The Cries Of The Creeps
by FreckledSatan
Summary: Thieves, liars, lovers, leaders, and family have all managed to fall through the cracks of the zombie apocalypse and land in a rag-tag group of extremely different individuals. The group manages to find a way of survival and may have found a cure, thanks to Hanji's very different theory as to what has caused a zombie outbreak.
1. Chapter 1

"We're lost."

She sighed. He shook his head.

"No babe, we aren't lost. The map says that we're only about a mile from the main highway, then we'll be back on track."

He said, pointing his index finger at the crumpled up map in his hands.

"Connie, we are completely lost. Even if we weren't there's a huge freakin' tree laying across the road."

Sasha took the map from his hands and set it on the dashboard. He sighed and let his shaved head fall back against the headrest. His hands rubbed down his face slowly as he took in a large, tired breath. Sasha set her hand on his thigh.

"Come on, we'll just try and move the tree. If all else fails, I'm sure we can find a way around it."

He nodded.

"Yeah. You're right."

He threw open the driver side door and climbed out. Sasha followed Connie to the large tree that had fallen. It didn't look too big that it couldn't be moved, but moving it would be quite a workout.

"Okay, you grab the branches, I'll work on pushing it."

Sasha wrapped her hands around a large bundle of branches and began throwing them to the side of the road. Connie placed his hands on the underside of the tree and used his knees and arms to lift it. He managed to move the tree about four inches before he was out of breath. Sasha joined him and they tried again. The sun was going down and the tree wasn't moving very fast.

"Baby...maybe...maybe we should just sleep and try again in the morning."

Sasha huffed. She sat on the tree and pulled a water bottle from her bag.

"Yeah...yeah maybe."

He sat next to her and lay his head on her shoulder. He was sweating even though it was early spring. Sasha set her hand on the side of his head and kissed his forehead.

"How much longer do you think? Until we get to to the mountains?"

She asked.

"Maybe a week or two I'd say."

He nuzzled his head closer to her. He was actually beginning to relax when he heard it. That strangely familiar yet disgusting sound.

" _Grck! Gick! Kir-rrg!"_

It sounded like someone gagging, someone choking on blood, that needed help. But it wasn't a person. _It wasn't human_. Sasha's body tensed as Connie opened his eyes and lifted his head. There it was, shuffling towards them. It's eyes were bloodshot and it's skin was ghostly white.

"Go get in the car Sasha, I'll handle it."

He stood up and kissed his girlfriend on the forehead before taking his pocket knife from his back pocket and flipping open. The creature shuffling towards him choked out more sounds. It's dirty-nailed hand reached forward. The sleeves that were rolled halfway up it's scratched arms were caked with mud and gnats. Connie pressed his hand to it's chest, keeping it an arm's length away. Sasha didn't go back to the car, but she did cover her eyes. She didn't like it. The sight of it made her sick. Connie stabbed the blade into the center of it's forehead and let it fall to it's knees in the road. The creature choked and gagged on it's own blood one last time before finally dying and falling face-forward.

Connie put his knife back in his pocket and turned to look at Sasha.

"Come on baby, let's-"

"Do you two need help moving this tree?"

A very tall, blonde man stood before them. He was wearing a white button up shirt and black pants, along with shiny black boots. Fancy, considering the circumstances. He was followed by short man with black hair, perfectly combed, and a tall person with glasses strapped around their head. Sasha was standing behind the trio of strangers.

"Sasha."

He looked at her worriedly. She shrugged and looked at the people.

"We could definitely use the help."

She said shyly. The tall man smiled. It was surprisingly gentle for how strong he looked.

"I can get that out of the way for you. I'm Erwin, this is Levi, and that's Hanji."

"Hi," Connie waved. "I'm Connie. She's Sasha."

The three looked back at Sasha who waved her hand sheepishly.

"Connie." Levi said. "That's a strange name for a boy." Hanji slapped his shoulder.

"I apologize. He's constipated so he see's that as an excuse to be a dick."

Connie's face turned red. These strangers were so...strange. Erwin already had his arms under the tree and before anyone could notice, the tree was to the side of the road. Erwin wiped his hands off on his pants and set them on his hips.

"So, where are you folks headed?"

"The mountains. Colorado or Arizona maybe. We haven't really figured it out yet."

Sasha answered. She walked to Connie and stood beside him.

"Well," He smiled again. "we really don't know. But Hanji here is a scientist and they've been working on figuring out just what the hell is happening."

Connie shot a glance over at Hanji who was playing with their hair.

"They? You mean she?"

"Actually, no. He means they, idiot."

Levi said.

"It's okay." Hanji added. "I understand."

"Moving on, do you guys have a vehicle or anything? Or are you guys just out in the open?"

Sasha asked. Erwin scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, we have an RV. It's been broken down the past couple of days. We've been trying to decide whether to ditch it or to try and fix it. Surprisingly, none of us really know how to fix these kinds of things."

"Connie's great with cars! He could fix it for you!"

Connie looked at his girlfriend.

 _Babe._

He mouthed. "That'd be so appreciated if he could do that. We could trade you food or supplies. Or anything you guys want really."

Levi crossed his arms. "Erwin I don't think we should be offering our food to two strangers."

"We don't have to be strangers." Sasha said. "We could be a group."

"That sounds like a good idea, actually."

Hanji said. Levi rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious? That just means-"

"Deal. Fix the RV and you've got yourselves a group."

Erwin agreed. "Erwin!" Levi barked.

"It was a two to one vote, Levi. Get over it. You guys can park your car next to the RV. It's down this road, come on."


	2. Chapter 2

He was kneeling over the bushes, studying the berries that grew from the small branches. His hand held one of the twigs that had fallen to the dirt. He scribbled something into his journal.

"Eren, these things are fascinating. These small berries, they're poisonous to every creature on Earth except Vampire Bats. I'm guessing it's because the toxin is found in the seeds and the Vampire Bats just suck out the juice but...Vampire Bats aren't even native to this area."

"So what you're saying is we can't eat that?"

Eren asked sarcastically. Armin rolled his eyes.

"Were you paying attention?"

He asked, standing up from his kneeling position on the ground.

"Yes, but we're supposed to be looking for food while Mikasa hunts."

Eren said, swinging the rifle in his hands around carelessly.

"Would you stop that? You're going to accidentally fire it and then attract something and kill me or yourself."

Armin placed his journal in his messenger bag and scratched his head.

"There's insects we can eat and I'm sure there's probably corpses of animals that the meat is still good on."

"No thanks Armin, I prefer my food to have four legs and to not be rotten."

Armin shrugged.

"Your loss."

He pulled his blonde hair out of his eyes and clipped it back on his head, leaving small golden strands hanging on his forehead.

"I wish Mikasa would let us hunt with her. You know, so I can shoot this thing."

Eren said, pretending to fire it like a machine gun. Armin rolled his eyes.

"Come on, let's just find something to eat."

The boys walked through the woods, Armin stopping every few minutes to study something while Eren aimed at everything that moved. Armin stopped.

"Eren, here's food. Wild blackberries."

He kneeled and opened his messenger bag to pull out a small, ziplock plastic bag. He began filling it.

"These things are- _AHH!_ "

He fell backwards.

" _Grk! Grck! Gack!"_

Those awful gagging sounds were coming from a creature that had emerged from the bushes and thrown itself on top of Armin. Armin screamed and held his hands out in front of him, catching the creature by the wrists.

" _Gck! Grk!"_

It snapped it's jaws and flexed it's fingers, trying to claw him.

"Eren! Shoot it!"

He yelled. Eren was frozen. His gun was in his hands but not aimed.

"Eren! Shoot the god damn thing!"

The creature's head was split down the middle as a machete blade sliced through it's skull. It's blood and bodily fluids spilled out onto Armin's chest and stomach, soaking through his shirt. He threw the corpse to the ground and threw up yellow stomach acid; there wasn't much in his stomach.

Mikasa glared angrily at Eren.

"Why didn't you shoot it?!"

She shouted.

"Becuase...I-I don't know! Armin's always telling me not to kill them."

He shouted back.

"When I can capture them and study them Eren! Not when they're about to take a bite out of me!"

Armin climbed to his feet and stripped off his shirt.

"This was one of my favorite t-shirts."

He complained. Mikasa rolled her eyes.

"I killed a deer. Eren, help me drag it back. Armin, collect more of these berries."

She commanded and the boys obeyed.

Eren followed close after her.

"Mikasa I-"

"Save it. You froze. It almost cost Armin his life. I see now that I can't leave you two, or yourself, alone out here."

She stated.

"No, you can."

"I can? That's why if I wasn't there, Armin would be dead right now and you'd be crying over it."

She snapped. Eren looked at the ground.

"I apologize for being cross but, if you haven't noticed, we haven't eaten much lately and it's beginning to get to me."

"I can tell."

Eren mumbled. Mikasa shot him a stern stare. He dropped his gaze back to the ground. He felt his forehead bang against something cold. Mikasa's shoulder. She had stopped. On the ground was a pool of blood, but no deer.

"What the fuck? It was here. I killed it."

She said angrily.

"Are you sure it was dead?"

He asked.

"I'm absolutely positive that that damn thing was dead when I left. It shouldn't even be able to stand, let alone walk off. I slit it's throat after I shot it with an arrow."

She said. Eren's eyes widened at the thought of Mikasa slitting the deer's throat.

"Where's my fucking deer?"

She growled. Eren took a step backwards, fearing his throat may be slit next.

"Mika-"

"Eren, what?"

"Mika, there's smoke."

He pointed above the trees where there was indeed a huge, billowing cloud of gray smoke. Armin joined them now, a bag of berries in his hand.

"Did you guys find the- What the?"

He looked towards the sky. Mikasa got her bow, which was really a very hefty branch tied tightly with thin bungee cord, and loaded an arrow into it. Arrows, meaning sticks tipped with very sharp rocks. She motioned for Armin and Eren to follow. Eren aimed his rifle forward as they made their way towards the mysterious source of the smoke. The hid behind trees and made sure not to step on a single twig. When they reached the source they could see that there was a road on which a RV and a small, silver Neon were parked. There was a fire with people around it, cutting open no other than Mikasa's deer. She pulled back her arrow and prepared to shoot the short, black-haired man in between the eyes but Armin stopped her by setting his hand on her shoulder.

"Mikasa, it's people. We haven't seen people in almost a month."

He whispered. Mikasa lowered her bow.

"We can't just go speak to them. What if they're dangerous?"

She asked. Armin pointed his finger at the group. The girl with the ponytail and the boy with the shaved head were cuddling while the black-haired man was grumpily listening to the person with glasses. The blonde man was cutting strips of deer meat with a smile on his face.

"I really don't think they look like people who would kill us with rock arrows. They just look like they found a dead deer and thought it was fair game. We'd do the same thing."

He said. Mikasa sighed.

"Fine. But we go out there together and we get our deer back."

Armin smiled and grabbed her hand along with Eren's.

"Hello!"

He said loudly. Every one of the members' heads turned to look at them.

"I think you found our deer."

He said nervously. The blonde man stood. The three clearly saw that he was much larger than they expected.

"I figured someone would come to find it soon enough. It is yours, would you like to sit and have some?"

He asked. Armin nodded.

"That'd be great. I'm Armin. She's Mikasa, and he's Eren."

The three sat next to the fire. The scent of the cooking meat was making their stomachs growl audibly.

"You must be pretty hungry?"

The person with glasses asked, chuckling at them.

"We haven't eaten in a while."

Eren shrugged. Mikasa looked down at the cement under her legs instead of answering.

"I'm Hanji. This is Levi."

She pointed to Levi who looked over the small trio before returning to his book.

"And they're Connie and Sasha."

"Heh, which ones Connie?"

Eren asked. Connie glared at him. Sasha giggled and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Me."

He sighed and set his head on his hand.

"So, what are you guys doing? Out here in the woods?"

Hanji asked.

"We're just kind of moving around. Mikasa and Eren would like to get back to their parents house in Maine but that's a long ways away."

Armin said.

"Well we're about the same distance from Maine as we are from Colorado."

Sasha said.

"Colorado? What's in Colorado?"

Eren asked.

"My uncle's cottage. A place in the mountains. We'd be away from these...things, and we can hunt for our food and I'm sure he's got all kinds of survival stuff up there."

"All of you are going to live there?"

Mikasa asked curiously.

"Well, we aren't sure yet." Hanji said. "We made a deal with Connie and Sasha over here that if Connie could fix our Rv we'd join them as a group. You know, stronger in numbers and everything."

They smiled cheerfully. Armin set his finger against his chin.

"That's a good idea! Say, do you guys have someone who knows their plants?"

He asked.

"Well, Hanji is a scientist so they probably know some plants but we don't have an expert, no."

Erwin answered.

"What about strength? Someone who can easily kill these things?"

"We have Erwin but he doesn't like to kill them."

Sasha answered.

"Mikasa would be great. She's pretty skilled with that machete of hers."

"You'd like to join our group?"

Levi asked.

"No"

"Yes!"

Mikasa and Armin answered at the same time.

"Armin!"

Mikasa hissed. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Mikasa you can't exactly stay up and hunt for three people with the state you're in. You're starved, not to mention Eren and I are too. More people means more food, means longer life. Please? We don't have to stay long. We need this. _You_ need this."

Mikasa sighed and looked at Erwin.

"We'll join, but we aren't sure how long we'll be staying."

"Sounds great. Do you guys have a vehicle? A camp? Anything?"

He asked.

"No, we have sleeping bags and a small tent. That's about it."

"Any food?"

Levi asked.

"This deer."

Mikasa answered sassily. Levi gave her a sarcastic smirk and rolled his eyes.

"Anything else?"

"Some canned soups and things like that."

Eren said, taking his backpack off and unzipping it to show them the few cans of food they had.

"Cool. You guys are in."


	3. Chapter 3

"Connie, have you got it figured out yet?"

Hanji asked as they watched Connie bend over the motor and inspect inside. Today was overwhelmingly hot and the RV wouldn't start, let alone have air conditioning. Hanji held their hair off the back of their neck and set their hand on their hip. Connie lifted his sweat-soaked head.

"Yeah I think. Say where'd you guys get this thing?"

He asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm.

"We found it in a junk yard. The keys were in the glovebox so we figured it was fine."

"Yeah I can tell. The spark plugs are old as shit, the timing chain is barely hanging on, and the fan is hardly moving. This thing needs new pieces all together."

Hanji scratched their head.

"Well where can we get new pieces?"

"Do you have a town map?"

"Okay." Connie spread the map out on the small table inside the RV. Everyone gathered around.

"Here are the two main stores that we need to hit. The automotive shop, I'm sure they've got parts in there. Since we're heading into town, I figured we should head to the grocery store and get some food."

The group members looked at each other and then to him.

"So who's going with you?"

Armin asked.

"Well, Sasha grabs supplies fast."

He looked over at his girlfriend who smiled at him.

"I used to be a shelf stocker."

"And Mikasa can help protect us."

Mikasa only nodded her head.

"And Hanji is probably a good option."

Hanji smiled brightly.

"Erwin would be good too, but he should probably stay here to watch the camp. Incase more drifters manage to come across us."

"So Mikasa, Hanji, Connie, and Sasha."

Eren said.

"We should be back in a couple of hours. If we aren't back by the time the sun is going down, wait until morning to come looking."

Mikasa said flatly.

"You guys can take some of the duffel bags. You should probably bring back some clothes too."

Erwin said. The group walked out of the RV and lifted the doors to the compartments under it. Connie and Sasha both took an empty duffle bag while Hanji and Mikasa put on their backpacks. Mikasa wielded a machete, Hanji had a pistol and a box of syringes, Connie had his pocket knife, and Sasha was prepared with a crowbar.

"Here's the list of shirt and pants sizes for everyone."

Armin handed a piece of paper to Sasha.

"Also, if you manage to find any journals I could use one."

"Will do!"

She smiled and shoved the paper into her pocket. The group began to walk away. "Hanji!"

Levi called. Hanji turned around and walked back towards him.

"Yes?"

They asked. Levi pressed a kiss to their lips.

"Be careful. Don't die, idiot."

Hanji laughed. "I'll try not to, midget."

Levi rolled his eyes and let the group continue on.

The sun was beating down hard on them. It was making the tops of their heads hot and sweat drip down their faces. Sasha took a drink from her water bottle and offered some to Mikasa.

"How many of these do you have?"

"Connie and I got a whole pack from the dollar store in the next town over. Do you want one?"

She offered. Mikasa nodded.

"Why are you guys being so nice to us? To me? We don't even know each other."

"Well," Hanji said. "why wouldn't we be? As far as we know, humanity is ending. Those creatures, they're taking over. We need as many humans as we can get so why not be friendly? As long as no one intends to hurt us."

Mikasa thought over their words.

"I suppose you're right. But how do we know humanity is ending? Other countries are probably fine."

"Honey, you've been hunting deer with sharp sticks and living in the woods. If that's not an end to modern humanity then I'm not sure what is." Hanji laughed. "Besides no other country, dead or not, is going to come near us. We're one of the top ranking war countries and when supplies run out...then who knows. It also appears that not a single country has tried to reach us and if things are really that bad they may not be able to communicate with us."

"Hanji."

"What I think is that this may have been caused by immigrants coming in, much like the Europeans gave the Native Americans smallpox."

"Hanji."

"The immigrants coming in may be immune to it but we, as Americans, may not."

"Hanji!"

Connie yelled. Hanji stopped talking and realized what was going on. The group had stopped walking in the middle of the road.

"What?" They asked. Mikasa pointed to the car in front of them. There were people inside. Four people, each with their eyes shut, lying over each other in a tangle of limbs inside a white Ford Taurus. Mikasa stepped forward and placed her hand on the door handle. She looked at the three group members behind her. All three members shrugged their shoulders. Mikasa slowly opened the door. The hinges creaked much louder than Mikasa would've liked them to. She lifted her foot and poked the toe of her sneaker into the driver's ribs. a large, muscular blonde man with short hair. He grunted but didn't move. Mikasa slammed her fist against the car horn. Every person inside snapped awake. They panicked at the site of people. The blonde man pointed a gun at Mikasa. The other boy, a brunette, pressed himself back against the window. The two blonde girls in the back seat stared at them in fear and confusion.

"Who are you?!"

The blonde man yelled. His voice was low and actually quite frightening. Mikasa held up her machete.

"Who are you?!"

She yelled back. The brunette boy threw his arm across the blonde man's chest.

"Reiner, put your gun down."

He said. His voice was soft and kind. The man, apparently named Reiner, kept his gun up.

"Reiner. Now."

Reiner lowered his gun. Mikasa kept her machete in front of her but she felt her body loosen at the man's retreat. Her three group members walked up behind her. Each with their hands raised.

"We don't want to hurt you. We just thought you guys were dead."

Connie said. The brunette man surprisingly laughed.

"No, we're alive. Just tired is all."

"Are you guys going anywhere?

Sasha asked.

"Arizona. Our families live out there."

Reiner answered.

"We're headed in the same direction."

Hanji said, smiling. "The four of you?" Reiner asked.

"No. We have four more people. We were just going out on a food run."

Sasha said. Mikasa shot her a look. She wasn't sure it was such a great idea to be telling these strangers that they had more people.

"It's just the four of us."

The brunette man said.

"We were actually on our way for food when the car ran out of gas."

Hanji looked at their group members.

"Guys?"

Mikasa shook her head.

"No, we have to consult the others before bringing people back. We don't even know them."

"So we'll bring them back with us. It can't hurt anything."

Sasha said. Mikasa rolled her eyes and began to walk away.

"Whatever, you guys can get us killed by four strangers. I won't be a part of it."

Hanji shook their head and smiled.

"Would you like to join us on our food run?"

"Yes we would. I'm Bertholdt."

He stuck out his hand.

"Hanji."

They shook.

"This is Connie and Sasha. She's Mikasa."

"She's Annie, and she's Krista."

Bertholdt pointed to the two girls. Annie blinked her big blue eyes but said nothing. Krista opened the door and climbed out. She was tiny compared to Hanji.

"Hi." She smiled. Hanji put out their hand. Krista shook it.

"Well let's get a move on. We've only got a couple hours."

Connie said, grabbing Sasha's hand. The four people climbed out of the car, grabbed their things from the trunk, and followed after them.

"Wow."

Sasha said.

"This place is huge."

The group had made it to the automotive shop with much time to spare.

"I thought we were going on a food run?"

Annie asked flatly.

"Yeah." Connie answered. "We just need to pick up some things for our RV. It wont start up."

"You all stay in that RV?"

Krista asked.

"No." Hanji answered, opening the garage door. "Connie and Sasha have a car. Mikasa, Eren, and Armin have a tent. Most of the time, Erwin sleeps on top of the RV to give Levi and I our space."

"Didn't need to know that, Hanji." Reiner said, looking around the large shop. Connie entered the shop with his knife in hand. "Moving on." He sighed. "We need spark plugs, a timing chain, a fan, and antifreeze. So if any of you manage to find one of those things, tell me."

The group members looked at each other. Without word they split up. Reiner and Bertholdt followed Connie. Mikasa and Annie drifted off to the other side of the building. Hanji and Sasha made their way to the front lobby, leaving Krista on her own.

"Boys, do you know anything about cars?"

Connie asked. Bertholdt shook his head. Reiner shrugged.

"Some. I used to help my dad work on his Mustang back home. Before I left for college."

"I used to go to school. To be a mechanic actually. I only got through five or six courses of it before this whole thing started. How long ago was it? Four, five months?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that."

Annie and Mikasa walked silently. Neither of them were really looking for anything. Instead, they were shuffling around, listening for anything near.

"Why do you carry that?"

Annie asked. Mikasa looked at her questioningly.

"The machete."

Annie pointed to the machete on Mikasa's belt.

"To kill those things out there."

Now Annie was the one who looked confused.

"You kill them?"

"So, you and Levi?"

Sasha asked as her and Hanji searched the front room.

"Uh huh."

Hanji smiled. Sasha grinned.

"You two are cute. But you're different. I suppose that's what makes you cute."

She giggled. Hanji shrugged.

"He's stupid."

Sasha nudged them with her shoulder.

"Do you _loooove_ him?"

Then she noticed it. A very bright pink blush across Hanji's face.

" _Awwww!"_

"We knew each other from work. He was the man I was supposed to be shadowing around the workplace and we got along. After a couple weeks we went out for drinks and that was it."

Hanji said. Sasha smiled at them.

"That's so cute!"

"How'd you and Connie meet?"

"This is so creepy."

Krista whispered to herself as she made her way towards the back room of the shop. There were grease stains on the floor and it smelled like cigarettes. She didn't like it very much. Her hands gripped the edges of her baggy, white t-shirt nervously. Her eyes frantically looked around at the walls and the tools hanging everywhere. There was a giant blood spot on the cement wall angled at a way that showed someone's head had been blown off while slouching over. Krista looked closer. Possibly a struggling person who'd shot an attacker. Krista closed her eyes hard enough to make white spots dance across her vision. She tried to force it out of her brain. The short girl continued on into the storage room. It was dark. Not so dark that she couldn't see but dark enough to make her wish she had a flashlight. She looked at the shelves around her. A large gallon container with words stamped all over it showed her it was gasoline. She grabbed it and held it against her chest with both arms. She walked farther into the room to see if there was anything else they may need. She was looking over the shelves when she heard it.

 _Clink._

Two cans of spray paint were knocking against each other gently. As if something- _or someone_ -had knocked against the shelf. Krista turned and looked towards the noise.

 _Crash!_

A can of oil fell to the floor and spilled its contents into a thick, black puddle. Krista began to run towards the door that led into the main room. She was almost there when a large wooden box slammed in front of her. She spun around on her heels, searching for the cause of all this destruction.

"W-Who's there? Where are you?!"

She asked in an almost pathetic tone. There was no more noise. But she felt a presence. As if someone were staring right at her, ready to pounce. She tried to back away. The back of her sneakers were stopped by the crate. She couldn't get out unless she turned around and climbed over it. But there was no way she was turning around now.

 _Shhh._

Something slid smoothly across the floor. Krista felt the solidness behind her ankles disappear. She turned her head. The crate was gone. It had been pulled back into it's original place. Krista stared at it. She swore she could see fingers curled around the edges. Long, tan fingers with scars. Scars in the shapes of small crosses.

"You can come out."

She said quietly. The fingers didn't move.

"I won't hurt you."

The fingers curled and then stretched out again. They were pressing against the wooden sides, as if the person the fingers belonged to was thinking about pushing the crate forward again.

"Aye! Krista!"

Reiner yelled. Krista's head shot sideways.

"Guys! I found-"

She looked back to see that the fingers had disappeared.

"Found what?"

Reiner asked, approaching her.

"Some gasoline."

She sighed. Reiner took it from her hands.

"Good find! We're gonna head out to the grocery store now. Better hurry before everybody leaves."

"O-Okay."

She gave one last look towards the crate before following Reiner outside where the rest of the group members were waiting.

"Find everything?"

She asked, trying to hide her fear and confusion of what had just happened.

"Yeah." Connie answered. "And we found this bike."

His arm was leaning on a sleek, black motorcycle. The words "Black Betty" were marked across its side in white spray paint.

"It's got a half tank of gas and the sucker that owned it left the keys in the ignition."

Connie smiled.

"Maybe we shouldn't take it."

Krista said. Connie rose one of his eyebrows at her.

"Why not? Nobody's here to claim it."

The group looked at Krista questioningly.

"Yeah...I guess."

"I'll walk the bike back to camp when we circle back around." Connie said. He held up the map.

"The grocery store is just down the road so it shouldn't be a long trip."

The group began to walk again. Mikasa deliberately put herself beside Hanji and Sasha. Connie walked with the two other boys, and Krista and Annie walked beside each other.

"Hanji."

Mikasa said quietly. Hanji looked at the Asian girl and raised their eyebrows as a silent "What is it?"

"Annie and her group, they don't kill these things. She said they haven't been approached by any of them so they don't kill them."

Hanji's eyes widened.

"Approached? Those things approach every living thing they see. I saw one attack a bush that moved in the wind. They don't pick and choose."

"That's what I thought. Then again, we haven't seen any creatures come near them. We should wait and see, determine if it's true or not."

She said. Hanji nodded.

"Keep an eye on it."

The group made it to the grocery store in one piece. It was a small, locally owned store that sold mostly travel souvenirs even though the town they were in really wasn't a tourist attraction. Mikasa pushed open the door. A bell hanging from a string rang loudly and echoed through the store.

" _Grk! Gggr! Krrick!"_

Those familiar gagging noises were coming from somewhere towards the back of the room. Mikasa put up her hand, signaling for the group to stay put. She stepped inside and swung her machete from side to side. She listened. It was quiet. She tapped the blade against the counter a few times.  
" _GARR!"_

It jumped at her from the side. She spun around and sliced the creature at the throat. It's head didn't come completely off but it was injured enough to die. Mikasa looked at the group and nodded. The group entered.

Immediately, Hanji kneeled next to the creature's body and pulled a syringe from their pocket. They put on a pair of rubber gloves that were residing in the side pocket of their backpack and grabbed the creature's wrist. Hanji ran an index finger up and down it's arm. They looked at their fingertip. Flakes of dead skin had rubbed off onto their finger. Hanji furrowed their brow and set the skin aside while they pressed the needle to the creature's arm. The needle easily slid in and then out after Hanji collected a sample of blood.

"That's so gross."

Krista said, placing a hand over her mouth.

"It's science."

Hanji smiled.

"It appears the skin is decomposing. Very, very slowly."

"Then what's this?"

Reiner asked, pointing to the creature's leg. There, on it's right ankle, was a large, black spot. Hanji gave it a closer look. They took off their backpack and pulled out a small box which held various metal tools. Hanji took out a scalpel and a pair of tweezers.

"What are you-Oh god."

Krista gagged and turned away.

"I think we'll just go look for food."

Sasha said, grabbing Krista's hand. The two girls walked away from the scene. Hanji cut a small piece of the black growth out of the creature's leg. Hanji pulled it away with the pair of tweezers and held it at eye level.

"It appears to be a scab. But...much, much thicker. Like plywood, thicker."

"Uh...Hanji."

Bertholdt said. Hanji looked down to see a small swarm of gnats exiting the hole they'd cut.

"Oh Jesus."

They stood and backed away.

"Nobody let those bugs near you. I'm sure they're just gnats, but we can't take chances."

Hanji placed the piece of the black growth in a plastic bag and put it back in their backpack along with the blood sample.

"Alright let's move along."

Again, the group split up. Connie, Reiner, and Bertholdt went towards the supply section while Hanji, Annie, and Mikasa joined Sasha and Krista in the canned food section.

"What should we get?"

Sasha asked, looking over the cans in front of them.

"We should try to get things that don't need to be cooked. Like fruit, and maybe some vegetables."

Hanji said, picking up a can of peas. Mikasa began dumping random things into her backpack.

"We can always make a fire."

She said. Annie shrugged and began helping her dump things into the bag.

"We should get some batteries. Flashlights, rope, tools, anything we may need."

Connie said. Reiner and Bertholdt followed close behind.

"Why do we need rope? You and Sasha gonna try somethin'?"

Reiner chuckled. Connie laughed too as Bertholdt only smiled uncomfortably.

"Nah, she's not that kinda chick."

"Then what kinda chick is she?"

"Well, she likes to make love, not have sex. If you catch my drift."

He said, looking over at the aisle his girlfriend was in. Reiner nodded.

"See I couldn't have a chick like that. I like a girl that likes to be put in her place you know. A certain little blonde if you know what I mean."

Reiner said quietly. Connie laughed again and patted Reiner on the back.

"What about you Bert? What kind of girl do you like?"

Connie asked. Bertholdt rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Ah, Bert's a little...into guys."

Reiner said. Bertholdt looked away, red in the face.

"I'm not _into guys._ I'm bisexual."

He said, his tone sounding almost angry.

"Bert, you can't be bisexual. Either you're gay or you're not. I'm sorry but that's how it is. I don't care if you're gay Bert. Just be honest."

"You're biphobic!"

Connie made a face, seeing the tension between the two.

"I'm just gonna...go get some lanterns."

"Jesus christ, why does Armin wear such big shirts?"  
Sasha asked as the small group made their way into the clothing section.

"Because he has really wide shoulders."

Mikasa answered.

"Who's Armin? Your boyfriend?"

Annie asked. Mikasa snickered.

"Not on god's green earth."

Hanji smiled.

"They're just friends. Besides, I think Armin tends to like Eren."

"Who's Eren? Another girl?"

Krista asked.

"I'm guessing you guys are from the southern region huh?"

Mikasa asked.

"Well, I'm from Pennsylvania." Krista said. "But Annie, and Reiner are from Tennessee."

"And Bert's from West Virginia."

Annie said. Mikasa tilted her head.

"I thought your families were in Arizona?"

Annie ignored the question.

"Hm. Levi, Erwin and I are from Wyoming."

Hanji said, avoiding the question as well.

"Why are we saying where we're from?"

Mikasa asked.

"To learn more from each other. We are a group after all."

"A group?"

Annie asked, raising one of her blonde eyebrows.

"I mean, I figured we were. You guys are an okay group. And we really should stick together, considering those creatures will try to eat you."

Hanji shrugged.

"We'll have to talk to the guys about it."

Annie said flatly. Krista only smiled.

"I think you should join! We need more girls!"

Sasha said.

"You have Hanji."

Annie said.

"Well, no. Hanji doesn't have a gender. They prefer to go by they pronouns."

Sasha pointed out. Annie gave Hanji a strange look.

"Never heard that before."

"Moving on," Sasha said, trying to avoid any kind of conflict. "I need someone who'll let me paint their nails."

"You can paint mine!"

Krista giggled.

"Let's go get nail polish!"

Sasha grabbed her wrist. The two of them ran to the beauty department, laughing the entire way. Annie and Mikasa looked at each other. Hanji grinned.

"I'm going to go check on the boys."

That left the two girls alone, standing in the clothes aisle. Mikasa began to find boys shirts for Armin and Eren and a few for herself. She checked the size list and found some extra large ones for Erwin along with a small for Levi. She grabbed two for Hanji just in case.

"So those things eat people?"

Annie asked, getting tired of the sounds of clothes hangers scraping against metal racks.

"Yeah. They'll bite people and then the person they bite turns into the creature. Then the cycle starts again."

Mikasa said, not taking her eyes off the clothes she was grabbing.

"What happens? When they bite people?"

"Well the wound scabs over pretty quick. In about a day. Then the person starts to itch. All over. Then they don't want to eat. They say they feel full and then they stop going to the bathroom. And finally, all the symptoms go away. The person looks completely fine until one day they just snap and bite someone."

Mikasa shrugged.

"How long does the process take?"

"About a week."

"How do you know all this?"

"We had a friend. Eren, Armin, and I. Her name was Petra."

Mikasa sighed. She turned to look at Annie who still had her cold glare plastered on her face.

"I'm sorry."

Annie said.

"It's okay. Earth wasn't the place for an angel like her."

Mikasa said nonchalantly. It was a surprise to Annie how she'd just spoken that sentence as if it were just a simple thing with no meaning. But she supposed she did that quite a lot too.

"Those creatures...do they have a name?"

The blonde asked.

"Not officially, no. They have lots of names I guess. Eren calls them zombies, Armin calls them sick, I call them creatures. Sometimes gaggers."

"Gaggers?"

"For the sounds they make. They sound like they're gagging on something."

Annie smirked.

"Funny."

"So the creatures have never come near you? Have they ever seen you?"

Mikasa asked, looking at the shorter girl.

"They've seen me. They just don't seem to care I guess. They don't care about Reiner either. sometimes they shuffle towards Bert or Krista but we always get away in time."

Annie said, crossing her arms.

"That's strange."

Mikasa blinked.

"What?"

"If I was one of those things I'd think you look pretty tasty."

The black-haired girl walked away, leaving Annie to blush and be embarrassed over the sudden compliment.

The group met back up by the exit.

"Okay everybody ready to go?"

Connie asked.

"Yep."

Sasha smiled. The group left the store and began to head back to the auto body shop to pick up the bike.

"Why are we getting this thing again?"

Annie asked from the back of the group.

"Because the more vehicles we have, the easier it is for everyone to travel. We can't exactly fit twelve people into an RV and a piece of shit car. And if we did, it'd be quite a tight squeeze. So anything we have helps. Plus this things badass."

Connie answered. He kicked up the kickstand and began to walk the bike.

"Guys."

Krista said. The group turned to look at her. She was pointing at the end of the road where a huge herd of creatures were shuffling towards them.

"Oh shit."

Hanji's eyes went wide.

"Those are recently infected."

"How can you tell?"

Mikasa asked.

"They're eyes aren't red yet. Recently infected are dangerous."

"Why?"

"Because they can run."

Every member grabbed the weapon they had. Connie looked at Hanji.

"You know how to ride this thing?"

He asked.

"I mean, I guess."

They said in a frantic tone as one of the creatures noticed them.

 _"Grk! Grrk! Krri!"_

The herd began to speed up. One of the creatures was picking up an even faster pace.

"Okay, drive it back to camp. We'll take care of this."

Hanji gave him a panicked look but climbed onto the bike.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Just go! We gotta hurry."

Hanji started the bike and gave the group one last look before speeding off down the road.

The herd was moving fast.

"Run!"

Connie yelled. The group members began to sprint. Their bags slammed against their backs and the sides of their legs. Reiner used his gun to shoot at a few of the creatures before picking up speed again. There were more gunshots but not from Reiner. Most of the group ignored it and kept running. Some of them didn't even notice it. But Krista turned her head in every direction, looking for the source.

"Come on!"

Sasha grabbed her hand. The gunshots kept ringing through the air.

Finally the group managed to outrun the huge wave of creatures but they tiredly walked back to camp. When they made it, Hanji hugged each one of them, happy to see they were okay. Eren and Armin rushed to Mikasa and hugged her tightly.

"Mikasa!"

Armin cheered.

"Hey He-Man."

She laughed at Armin who still wasn't wearing a shirt. She hugged Eren tightly and walked over next to the fire to sit down.

"So this is the group Hanji was telling us about?"

Erwin smiled and looked at the four newcomers. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Krista smiled back while Annie only nodded. Erwin put his hand out for each of them to shake.

"I'm Erwin."

"Reiner. He's Bert, she's Annie, and she's Krista."

Reiner introduced them.

"Would you guys like to sit down for something to eat?"

The four of them nodded and joined the others by the fire. Mikasa, Hanji, Connie, and Sasha had emptied out their bags and had managed to gather quite a few things. Levi was listing every item down on a list.

 _ **Rope- 3**_

 _ **Flashlights- 4**_

 _ **Batteries- 20 AA/ 20 AAA**_

 _ **Lanterns- 4**_

 _ **Rolls of Duct Tape- 2**_

 _ **Toilet Paper- 30**_

 _ **Paper Towels- 6**_

 _ **Shirts- 3 Size S/ 3 Size M/ 3 Size L/ 3 Size XL**_

 _ **Cans- 40: 10 Peas/ 2 Green Beans/ 6 Baked Beans/ 1 Pears/ 3 Tomato Soup/ 4 Chicken Noodle Soup/ 8 Mandarin Oranges/ 5 Spaghettio's/ 1 Peaches**_

 _ **Tents- 2**_

"Why's he doing that?"

Krista asked Hanji.

"Just to keep stock. Helps to know everything's in place."

Hanji answered. Sasha sat next to Krista and handed her a bowl filled with beans from inside the RV. Krista began to eat. She saw that Annie and Mikasa were sitting next to each other while Bertholdt and Reiner spoke to Connie.

"It looks like our groups like each other."

She whispered to the brunette next to her.

"It looks like you're right."

"Could I have everyone's attention?"

Erwin asked. Everyone looked at him. He had put on one of the "new" shirts Mikasa had brought back. He didn't look as big and scary in a Cardinals baseball cap and a shirt with the words "Thanks For Virginia's First Time" printed across the front.

"I'd just like to say that if you four decide you'd like to join us, we have plenty of room and will welcome you with loving arms. If you decide you don't want to, that's fine as well. You can stay here for the night. But if you do join we do have rules. It hasn't been voted but I believe that I'm sort of seen as the group leader. And as the leader, I have keys to the RV at all times as Connie has keys to his own car at all times. As for the bike, we aren't sure yet. If you eat something, we'd like for you to tell us so we can mark it off the list and figure out when we'll need to go on another run. Rule two, the RV's bed is Hanji and Levi's. If people would like to rotate into the bed, that's fine, we'll figure it out, but from personal experience I wouldn't want to use the bed if I were you."

Everyone turned their heads to Hanji and Levi who looked at each other and high-fived.

"Ew."

Connie said. Erwin went back to the rules, trying not to smile at his two group members.

"We'll only travel after speaking to each other and deciding where we'd like to go. We'll vote on it and the majority vote wins. Last rule. Everyone's own belongings belong to that person and that person only. We will not tolerate stealing in this group and if you take something, the group will figure out consequences accordingly."

Erwin looked over the members in front of him. Reiner looked at Bertholdt, Annie, and Krista.

"Guys?"

Krista nodded. Bertholdt nodded. And Annie shrugged. Reiner smiled at Erwin.

"We'll join."

"Great. Let's set up the tents."


	4. Chapter 4

The night was humid. It was a strange temperature for early spring in the middle of Virginia. There was a slight breeze but it only came every twenty minutes or so and it was only enough to rattle the walls of the tent Krista was sharing with Annie and Mikasa. All three of the girls were fast asleep, although it did take a while because they were laying in the grass outside of the large patch of trees next to them.

Before bed Connie, Reiner, and Erwin had made a makeshift alarm system by using rope and empty cans hung next to the tents. So that they'd be awoken if something were to come close to camp. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was safe.

The cans hadn't clinked together once. But Krista was awoken by something. Not by a sound, or a touch. But by a presence. The same one she felt in the autoshop. Her blue eyes snapped open. For some reason, her heart was racing and she was having a hard time catching her breath. She sat up and looked at the two girls next to her. They were both still asleep. Krista rubbed her hand down her face and pulled her blanket off of her legs. She slowly stood and unzipped the tent door. She could use fresh air. She closed the tent's flap door as quietly as possible and walked into the grass. It was already wet with early morning dew and Krista could feel small pieces of dirt and rock sticking to her toes. She looked up at the RV to see Erwin lying flat on his back with his baseball cap over his eyes. She looked around the camp. There was no one else awake. So what was it that she felt?

 _Clink._

It wasn't the cans. But keys. Krista turned her head quickly. A dark figure stood by the black bike they'd brought back. It was watching her. Krista tried to breathe but was too scared. The figure brought one foot forward. Krista stayed in place, paralyzed by fear. The form moved closer but stopped after another step. The moonlight was bright enough to show the form was wearing a bandana over their mouth and a black head dress. Between the black material she could see and eyepatch and one, glowing golden eye. Krista took one step forward. The person flinched. In the silver light she saw those same fingers. Tan, long, and scarred. She smiled.

"You can come out. It's okay."

Krista whispered. The person took one more step forward. They were about a foot away from each other now. Krista realized he person was much taller than her. She reached a hand forward and grabbed the person's hand. It was rough and calloused. She took one of their fingers in her palm. Their nails were chewed. She looked at the scars. There were so many. They'd been burned in. Krista looked up at them.

"What happened to you?"

Krista reached a hand forward, trying to move the bandana. The person turned away and pulled their hand back.

"I'm sorry I just-"

"I came to get my bike."

The person's voice was rough and muffled.

"That's your bike?"

They nodded.

"I'm sorry we took it."

They nodded again. Krista looked up at them.

"Are you in trouble? We have food, water, supplies. I can help you."

She said. The person shook their head.

"I...am...just fine...on my own."

They answered. Krista nodded.

"Will you at least tell me why you did those things in the shop? Why you scared me?"

She asked. The person looked at her as if she were asking them to die for her. They said nothing but just when Krista was losing hope for an answer, they spoke.

"Because...you're beautiful."

Krista watched the person walk back to their bike, walk it down the road a few meters, and then speed off. Erwin awoke to the sound of the bike's loud motor. He sat straight up and watched the stranger disappear down the road.

"What the hell?"

He yelled, fixing his baseball cap. Krista hurriedly got back in her tent before Erwin could see her. She heard the RV's door swing open and slam hard against the outside of the giant vehicle.

"Erwin what the everliving fuck-"

Levi was screaming. Erwin was talking back. Now the tent next to hers was rattling as someone else awoke. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"Did someone steal the bike?"

Armin was awake now. Krista shut her eyes tighter.

"Yeah they did!"

Erwin said.

"Get everyone up! Right now, make sure no one here stole anything."

Levi's sounded angry. Suddenly the tent's door was being unzipped. Krista opened her eyes. There were dark spots in her vision from how hard her eyelids had been squeezed. In a matter of minutes the sun had start to come up but she hadn't noticed.

Armin's head was stuck inside the tent, the sunlight casting a strange angle of yellow across his face.

"Hey, sorry. Levi wanted me to wake everyone up. It looks like the bike's gone."

Krista blinked at him and in her most surprised tone asked,

"The bike? Black Betty?"

Armin nodded, his blonde strands bouncing on his forehead.

"Yeah. You can go back to sleep, Levi just wanted me to check on everyone."

He smiled sweetly. Historia crawled out of the tent anyways.

Levi was standing with his notebook in his hands. All the cans and supplies were stacked in the road next to the RV as the short man paced in his boxers. Hanji was leaning against the side of the RV. They too were in their underwear and a t-shirt. Krista walked with Armin to other group members who were awake.

"Everything is still here."

Levi said in frustration. He threw his notepad to the ground and clenched his fists. Hanji grabbed him by the waist and pulled him into a hug.

"You're such a little grump, huh?"

Levi growled and tried to shove himself out of their arms. Hanji on smiled and kissed his forehead.

"It's okay. A drifter took the bike. Just calm down."

Levi sighed heavily.

"Where's Connie?"

Armin asked. Erwin looked at the silver car parked behind the RV. He cocked his thumb towards it.

"He's still asleep with Sasha."

"Well he's got the keys to the bike doesn't he?"

Armin asked. Erwin rubbed his chin. He turned around and walked to the driver's side. Connie and Sasha were asleep on top of each other in the backseat. Erwin knocked on the window. They both didn't move. He knocked again. Again, they didn't move. He sighed and opened the door. He honked the horn. Both Connie and Sasha lifted their heads. Sasha blinked tiredly at the huge man.

"Wha-"

"Do you guy's have the keys to the bike?"

Connie rubbed his eyes and reached in his pocket. He pulled out the keys and dangled them in the air.

"That means whoever stole it had a pair of keys."

"Somebody stole the bike?"

Connie shouted. Sasha groaned and climbed out of the car.

"Can't have any sleep around here huh?"

She sighed and walked over to Krista and Hanji.

"Someone stole the bike?"

She yawned.

"Apparently." Hanji answered. They sipped from a mug filled with coffee.

"Hey where'd you get that?" Sasha asked.

"We had some in the RV."

"I could use some. Freakin' Connie kept me up."

She rubbed her eyes and yawned again.

"Sasha ew."

Krista laughed. "No, no, no. Not like _that_. He just kept moving around and stuff.

"Levi's a heavy sleeper. That is when I take care of him."

Hanji winked.

"Ew!"

Krista and Sasha both shouted.

Mikasa awoke to shouting. Her brown eyes slowly fluttered open. They opened to the sight of Annie lying very close to her. They were sharing a blanket which Annie was taking most of Mikasa added. She looked at the girl. Her face was usually seldom kind. Mikasa hadn't seen her look joyful once but now as she slept, she appeared gentle. Her face didn't hold a frown but a neutral expression of peace. Annie's hair was sticking to the side of her face from a layer of cold sweat. Mikasa's fingers pushed the strand of blonde hair back. She flinched when she saw Annie open her eyes. "What are you doing?" Annie asked. Her voice sounded sleepy yet startled. Mikasa pulled her hand away.

"I'm sorry, you were just….your hair was in your eyes and I thought it would bother you."

Annie blinked. She set her hand on Mikasa's. Annie allowed her fingers to curl around Mikasa's. Annie's face was blushing slightly but Mikasa was staying cool. Mikasa didn't really understand why Annie was holding her hand now but she wasn't going to pull away. Annie closed her eyes and sighed.

"Why is everyone yelling?"

"I don't know."

Mikasa blinked. The blonde's face had returned to its usual expression. But her hold on Mikasa's hand was as peaceful as an early spring rain. Mikasa shut her eyes too, not quite ready to get up.

"Annie?"

"Hm?"

"You're hogging the blanket."

"We gotta find whoever took the bike and get it back."

Connie said, scratching his head.

"Uh no, we don't."

Krista piped up.

"Whoever took the bike, it must've been theirs because they had keys to it. So really, we took the bike."

She crossed her small arms over her chest. Connie opened his mouth to say something but realized that the girl was right. He sighed.

"Fine. They can have their badass bike. I'll find another one."

"No they cannot have their badass bike!" Levi yelled. "Whoever took back their stupid fucking bike stole two cans of food!"

He shouted. Hanji stared at him, sipping their coffee.

"Hun."

"What Hanji?!"

"Armin is eating a can of soup right now. That means there's only one unaccounted for."

Levi turned his head and glared at his lover. Hanji winked and walked back inside the Rv where they found Sasha, rummaging through the cabinets.

"Hey Hanj. Just looking for some coffee."

"Here, you can have the rest of mine."

They sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"It's just Levi. I feel like all these people here give him anxiety."

Hanji took a seat at the small table where Sasha joined them.

"The almighty Levi has anxiety? Strange. He seems so cool."

She said sarcastically, earning a smirk from Hanji.

"Maybe you should talk to him about it?"

"We talk quite a lot. I talk to him every chance I get, really. I try as hard as I can to comfort him but he's so insecure about some things."

Sasha furrowed her brow.

"I know, he doesn't seem like the type to be insecure. But every time he yells at someone or says something rude he immediately feels awful on the inside. He tries to stop himself but he just can't seem to do it."

"That's actually...really sad."

"I just want him to relax and feel okay. Although I'm not sure anyone can really relax in our current situation."

Hanji sighed. The RV door was opened. Levi walked in and briskly made his way to the bedroom, ignoring both Hanji and Sasha. Sasha gave her friend a look before cocking her thumb back towards the bedroom. Hanji sighed again and stood as Sasha exited the RV.

Hanji opened the door to the bedroom and found Levi rummaging through the small closet for something to wear.

"Babe?"

They asked. Levi didn't look back at his lover, but kept rummaging.

"Are you okay?"

"These fucking people. I know somebody's stealing. For now, it's one can. Next it's going to be the whole fucking RV."

He said frustratedly. Hanji walked to him and wrapped their arms around his waist.

"Maybe it was the biker that took it."

They said, laying their head on his shoulder.

"Babe, I really don't think they'd only steal one if they were going to rob a camp."

He said in his monotone voice. Hanji kissed his neck.

"Maybe we miscounted."

"I don't know maybe."

He sighed and grabbed a pair of pants off the carpet.

"You don't have to put those on yet."

Hanji smiled. Levi smirked.

"Oh really?"

"Uh-huh."

They giggled. Levi turned to face them. Hanji kissed his nose. He rolled his eyes and kissed their lips. Hanji kissed him back. They smiled as his hands grabbed their hips and began to push them back towards the bed. They both landed on the bed, Levi on top. He kissed Hanji's neck and ran his hand up the font of their shirt. Hanji let their hands run down his back and over the ridges of his spine. He shivered and gently bit down into Hanji's tan flesh. Hanji whined. Levi smiled and ran his tongue over their collar bones. He lifted Hanji's shirt over their head and looked down at them. They were blushing and smiling up at him.

"What?"

Hanji asked.

"You look beautiful. Even in a zombie apocalypse."

Hanji snorted and slapped his shoulder.

"Romantic, eh?"

"Shut up."

Levi laughed and unbuttoned Hanji's pants. Hanji ran their hands through his black hair and ran their fingers over the back of his neck. He purred and lay his head on their stomach.

"If this whole thing hadn't happened we'd be in a nice house together you know?"

He said. Hanji nodded.

"I know baby."

"I would've gotten you that stupid dog you wanted. We could've eaten home cooked meals everyday. Or eat Chinese food. Either way, we would've had a perfectly normal life."

Hanji looked down at him. They smiled.

"I would've loved to have a normal life with you baby."

Levi lifted himself up on his hands looked into Hanji's sparkling brown eyes.

"I could've made you take me to Starbucks every morning. And I could've made you take baths with me. Or we could've laid in bed all day and watched Netflix and made out...God I really miss Netflix."

They laughed. Levi shook his head and chuckled.

"Are you thinking about Netflix while we're having sex?"

"Technically we aren't having sex. We're looking at each other while we're half-naked."

They wiggled their eyebrows at him. Levi rolled his eyes and let himself fall on top of them with his head wedged between their neck and shoulder.

"Is this sex?"

Hanji giggled.

"Quiet, nerd."

Levi wrapped his arms around their torso and kissed their cheek.

"We're sleeping now."

"But I thought we were gonna have sex?"

"Nope."

"Oh, okay."

"Anybody seen Levi and Hanji?"

Erwin asked.

"I think they're talking in the RV."

Sasha said from beside the fire. It was nearing noon now and everyone was beginning to stir. Reiner and Bertholdt both exited the tent at the same time. Eren was still snoring away. Both the boys joined the rest of the group members by the fire that had been started. Armin was cooking a pot of soup for everyone while Connie was cutting off pieces of the deer Mikasa had killed a couple of days ago. The deer was going to get bad soon and they were trying to eat as much as possible. Which wasn't a hard job to do these days.

Krista was cuddled close to Sasha as they both read through an old magazine. Erwin was simply staring into the fire. It was quite a lazy day. Reiner couldn't stand it.

"Guys, let's go out and do something."

He pulled on a shirt and looked at the people surrounding him.

"Like what?"

Connie snorted.

"Anything we want. There's no cops, no laws. We can do pretty much anything."

Sasha looked at him. "I mean he is right. We could go back into town. Have some fun, maybe pick up some more things."

"Sasha's in!"

Reiner said. He looked to Bertholdt and Connie.

"Boys? I'm sure we could find some beer or somethin'?"

"I'm not a drinker."

Bertholdt said quietly. He was already wrapped into a large blue sweater and skinny jeans while everyone else were still in their underwear or wearing stained up t-shirts.

"I'm up for it. Better than cleaning up this gross old deer."

Connie wiped his hands off on a rag and stood.

"Alright, we got Sasha and Connie. Anyone else?"

"I think Eren and I would like to go. It'd be fun to do some things up there."

Armin said as he took the pot off the fire.

"If there's a hospital on the way I'm sure Hanji would like to go."

Erwin added.

"Okay so that's Armin, Eren, Connie, Sasha, and who else?"

"I'll go."

Mikasa said. She was climbing out of the tent with her hands rubbing her eyes. She stretched her long arms and popped her muscles loudly. Annie climbed out behind her and began to brush her teeth in the grass.

"Annie? You comin' with us into town?"

"What for?"

She asked.

"Just for some fun."

"Okay." She spit on the ground. "But if we get stuck it's your fault."

She smiled. Erwin stood up out of his chair and cracked his knuckles.

"If we're all going, we might as well drive. I could use a change of scenery. Everybody alright with packing up?"

Krista lifted her head now. She blinked at the tall man, but didn't say a word. She couldn't just say " _No we can't go because there's a masked stranger that I need to know more about."_

Instead she only smiled. The rest of the group answered with "Yeah" and "Sure" or "Okay". So no one really seemed to care where they were going. Krista felt disappointment at the thought of leaving the stranger. She didn't know why because they were a stranger. But she felt a certain connection to them. Because she knew they existed and no one else did. The stranger had also called her beautiful. Krista was sure the stranger was beautiful too, even though they seemed to be coated in scars. But she knew that that person was beautiful. She felt it in her head and heart. The feelings were strange to have considering she didn't know this person. But now it was a fascination. And she was going to get answers.


	5. Chapter 5

Armin shook Eren out of his sleep state. The brunette boy yawned and crawled out of the tent to see the rest of the group packing up their things. Mikasa and Annie were taking down the other tent while Reiner and Bertholdt threw everyone's bags into the undercarriage of the RV.

Erwin opened the door to the RV and entered. He headed towards the bedroom where he found Levi and Hanji both asleep on the bed, half naked. He sighed and slammed his fist against the wall. Both of them snapped awake at the booming sound. "Erwin what the f-"

"We're traveling. Going into town for a family fun day."

"Family fun?" Levi asked in a bored tone.

"Fine. Zombie apocalypse survivor group fun day. Now get your lazy asses up and get dressed. We're passing a hospital on the way and I figured Hanji would like to test that blood they found and maybe get some new tools and stuff."

Hanji smiled at him.

"You're so sweet. I'd love to."

Erwin winked before closing the door and heading back outside to help the others. Krista and Sasha were folding their clothes and packing their backpacks on the edge of the road. They were only six or seven meters away from the group but they were far enough for Krista to speak to Sasha in private.

"Sasha, can I tell you about something?" She asked as she folded a shirt.

"Sure. Is it about Reiner though? Because if it is I really don't wanna know."

"What?"

"You two, you're" She looked at the blonde man who was laughing loudly with Connie. Krista raised one of her eyebrows.

"We're?"

"Sleeping together."

"What? No!"

Krista nearly shouted. She made a sick face and shook her head. "That's gross." Sasha shrugged.

"Sorry, I just figured from the way he talks to Connie about you."

"Talks to-? Okay never mind that. Can I just talk to you, please?"

She asked. Sasha nodded.

"You have to swear you won't tell anyone. Not even Connie." Krista said urgently. The brunette looked at her boyfriend who was currently making stupid faces while he probably told a story. She nodded again. "I swear."

"I saw them. The person that stole the bike."

Sasha's brown eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! I saw them in the auto shop too. And I think they're the one who was shooting the zombies when we were running away."

Sasha blinked. She pressed her fingers to her chin as she thought her words over.

"But why would they protect us?"

"Exactly. I have no idea but...before they left, they said I was beautiful."

Krista quietly stated. She shot a glance over to the rest of the group to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. The brunette smirked.

"Looks like somebody's got a crush on Krista!"

"Shhh! I don't want anyone to know I saw them. They'll think I'm doling something I'm not supposed to."

She hushed her.

"Like what?"

"Stealing or something, I don't know."

Sasha looked at the blonde girl in front of her.

"Maybe you should do something to bring them back here. So you can talk to them."

"How would I do that?"

"Well, we are going to into town today. Me and you could sneak back to the auto shop and leave a note to them. Tell them where we're going."

"I don't know." Krista shrugged. "What if they're dangerous?"

"They saved us. They can't be _that_ dangerous."

Sasha pointed out.

"Alright everybody! Time to get goin'!"

Reiner called.

The group divided themselves. Mikasa, Annie, Sasha, Krista, and Hanji were in Connie and Sasha's car while Reiner, Bertholdt, Connie, Levi, Eren, Armin, and Erwin were in the RV. Connie bent over the driver side door and ducked his head inside the window.

"Please be careful." He said to Sasha as she put on her seat belt. "Babe, I will. Don't worry." She kissed him on the lips. He smiled and kissed her again.

"Barf."

Mikasa commented from the back seat. Krista and Hanji laughed while Annie simply chuckled. Connie frowned at them and sighed. "Later baby." He kissed her on the cheek. Sasha started the car and began to drive. Soon the RV followed close behind.

Mikasa was sitting in the middle of the backseat between Annie and Krista. The tall girl towered over the two blondes. She was silent but the sound of Sasha, Hanji, and Krista talking and laughing would've drowned her out if she did decide to speak. She looked over at Annie who was looking out the window. Her face was resting against her hand. Those bright blue eyes were following the trees zipping by. She looked as beautiful as she did when she slept. Mikasa realized now that she always found Annie beautiful. No matter what the girl was doing, she found her astonishing; and it was giving her a feeling in her chest she'd only ever felt once in her life. It was scary. To think she was feeling this again so soon. To think she was feeling this for someone she barely knew.

Annie turned her head to glance at her. She saw Mikasa's large brown eyes looking her over. Annie's own blue gems looked back. She set her pinky and ring finger on the very edge of Mikasa's thigh. Mikasa felt the small presence of energy through her skinny jeans. It was soothing. Slightly arousing. But mostly loving. Loving? Was that a word she could use to describe Annie's touch? They had known each other for only two days now but still she was feeling that rising in her touch. For now she'd describe her touch as _flirtatious_. But a small part in her head liked the thought of calling their little relationship loving.

Mikasa wasn't one to jump to love quickly. Not even with the first person that delivered her this feeling the first time she'd experienced it. She'd promised herself not to let herself get someone close enough to know her insecurities. Not to get them close enough to know what would destroy her. But she trusted Annie. She trusted her almost too much.

She set her own two fingers on top of Annie's. Mikasa could've sworn she saw the girl blush. It made her heart flutter and tickle the inside of her rib cage. Annie wrapped her fingers around Mikasa's. She could see the Asian girl's eyes looking over the others in the car. None of the others had seemed to notice the girls' silent game.

The car began to slow. They'd made it to the hospital.

"What are we doing here?"

Krista asked. Hanji looked at her and smiled.

"Come along and you'll find out my dear."

They winked. They all climbed out of the car and met the boys who climbed out of the RV. Erwin clapped his huge hands together loudly.

"Alright. The boys and I are going to head to the supermarket down the street. You girls and Hanji gonna go through the hospital?"

He asked. Hanji nodded. "Yep. Going to go test some blood."

"Actually." Sasha interrupted. "Krista and I are gonna head by the auto shop. She uh...dropped something pretty important over there yesterday."

"Well, I can go with her then." Reiner said. Krista and Sasha both shook their heads.

"No!" Krista said a little louder than she intended to. "Uh, we got it. Thanks though."

Reiner turned red from embarrassment and decided to start heading towards the supermarket, leaving the others standing.

"Uh...We'll just um...follow him."

Connie patted Bertholdt on the arm and nodded his head towards the retreating blonde man. The others followed. Levi gave Hanji a kiss before he followed behind Erwin. Hanji smiled and looked at the girls surrounding them.

"So who's going in with me?"

Mikasa and Annie rose their hands.

"Then let's go ladies. You two sure you can handle yourselves out there?"

They looked to Krista and Sasha. Both girls nodded.

"Just incase, take my pistol."

They removed their pistol from the back of their belt and tossed it to Sasha. Sasha barely caught it and nearly dropped it out of fear. She tucked the pistol in the side of her own belt and shakily looked over at Krista.

"It's just down the street so we'll be back in twenty minutes or so."

The blonde said. Hanji nodded.

"Alright then, get a move on."

The small group separated into even smaller groups and went their different directions.

Hanji, Mikasa, and Annie entered the hospital. It smelled bad and there were dead corpses scattered across the floor. Some of them were ripped apart while others had bled out. Hanji knelt next to one that seemed a little less rotted than the others.

"Girls." They took off their backpacks and pulled out a small cardboard box. "Grab some gloves and help me lug this thing up to the surgery ward."

Annie and Mikasa both grudgingly grabbed a pair of gloves. Mikasa grabbed the body by the ankles while Annie grabbed one of it's wrists. Hanji grabbed the other wrist and lifted it up. All three of them grunted and struggled as they made their way to the elevator.

"Is this thing even gonna work?"

Mikasa asked.

"Yeah, yeah. We just gotta hit the emergency button."

Hanji said. Annie pressed the red button that had the words "EMERGENCY LIFT" printed across it in white letters. The elevator slightly bounced for a moment before shifting into gear and smoothly moving. Mikasa's hands were holding on to the corpse's ankles even tighter.

"Afraid of elevators Mikasa?" Hanji asked. Mikasa kept her eyes closed and didn't answer.

The elevator door slid open. "You can open your eyes now Mikasa." Hanji said. Mikasa slowly opened her eyes and walked forward, pulling Annie and Hanji along. It was obvious that she was slightly embarrassed for showing her claustrophobia. Annie fought back the urge to laugh.

"Okay let's set him down. I'm gonna check if the room's clear."

Hanji lowered their side of the corpse to the floor and took a step towards the hospital room door. They knocked their knuckles against the metal hard enough for anything inside to hear. After a moment of waiting they turned the door knob and slowly pushed it open.

"Any creatures in here?"

They asked. Both Annie and Mikasa rolled their eyes at the goof of a scientist.

"Looks like it's clear. Help me get him onto the surgery table."

All three of them lugged the body into the room. It surprisingly still smelled disinfectant and cleaning chemicals. The floors were still white and the walls had no dried blood or brains sprayed on them. It looked like this room had been untouched by the creeps.

They threw it onto the metal surgery table and observed it. It was in good shape for a corpse that could've possibly been dead for months now.

"I think whatever it is that caused this slows down decomposition."

Hanji said. They opened their backpack again and pulled out a surgical mask that they put over their mouth.

"Alright. I have a job for you two." They opened a box of surgical tools along with another box holding needles and syringes.

"I need you girls to go down to the basement. Don't worry Mikasa, you can take the stairs." They winked, earning the middle finger from the now grumpy girl. "Turn on the backup generators. There should be a box on the wall that when you open it there's switches. They should be labeled. And if they aren't just flip on every single one until the lights come on."

Hanji commanded. Both Annie and Mikasa obeyed without saying another word. The girls exited the room and made their way down to the basement.

"Alright. Time to cut you open."

Hanji said to their subject of experiment.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't know how to get her to notice me."

Reiner said sadly. He was sitting on top of one of the supermarket's conveyer belts next to Bertholdt and Connie. Connie was eating a bag of M&M's while Bertholdt was indulging in an ICEE from the machine that miraculously still worked.

"Well, maybe she's asexual."

Bertholdt suggested. Reiner scoffed. "Bert asexuality isn't a thing. You can't just not wanna have sex. That's not how things work."

"Okay well maybe she just doesn't fuckin' like you."

He took a very loud drink from his ICEE and hopped off the conveyor belt. Reiner rolled his eyes and watched his friend walk away. Connie shrugged. "I dunno man, chicks are like that. Sometimes they'll wanna be loving and sometimes they just don't care."

"But she's never loving to me."

"Maybe you should talk to her more. Have a deep conversation with her. That's what got Sasha to like me. We worked in the grocery store together back home and when we'd go on breaks I'd just ask her about stuff."

He crunched his candy loudly. Reiner sighed.

"Every time I try to talk to her she just doesn't seem interested."

"I know it's hard to accept, and that's okay, but...you can't make people like you. Sometimes people don't think you're that cool and that's alright. But someone out there is gonna think you're the fuckin raddest."

Connie offered him a palm full of M&M's. Reiner stuck out his hand and took the brightly colored candy.

"There's so many journals! I don't know which ones to choose."

Armin smiled as he and Eren made their way through the art aisle.

"Well you like the leather back ones a lot."

Eren said. Armin looked at him and smiled.

"You know my favorites?"

Eren smiled back. The blonde boy noticed the slight red blush that spread across the bridge of his nose.

"I mean, yeah. I know pretty much everything about you."

Armin smirked and took a step towards his friend.

"Everything?" He wiggled his golden eyebrows. Eren's face was red now although he didn't know why.

"Yes." Eren answered. Armin pecked a kiss to his nose. "You're such a sweetie awww!"

"Cut it out, that's gay."

Armin's happy smile suddenly turned into an angry frown. Eren looked at him in fear.

"W-What?"

"You obviously don't know everything about me if you say ignorant shit like that."

The blonde boy angrily walked away. Eren chased after him.

"Armin what are you talking about?" He caught up next to him. Armin turned his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

"The things you say can hurt people Eren. You need to learn that. You can't just say things like that."

"Okay but you're not gay."

"Yeah, I'm not gay. I'm pansexual. Therefore I take your derogatory vocabulary as offensive!"

Armin shouted.

"Armin." Eren sighed. "I'm sorry. I won't say things like that anymore."

"Thank you. I especially don't want you saying those things around Bert either. We don't need another Reiner around here."

Eren rose an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? How would it offend Bertholdt?"

"Because Bertholdt is bisexual. Reiner says these ignorant things and it hurts his feelings."

Armin kneeled down on the floor and started looking over the rows of journals. Eren stayed standing. He looked down at the blonde boy.

"Do you like Bert?"

Armin didn't answer for a moment. He took a deep breath and let it slowly exit through his nose.

"He's cute but I'm not sure we're close enough for me to like him."

"But...would you date him?"

"It's the apocalypse Eren, I can't exactly take him out to dinner." He laughed.

"Armin." Eren's voice took on a serious tone.

"Eren, I don't know. Why does it matter to you? You're obviously very heterosexual."

Armin pointed out. Eren crossed his arms.

"You don't know that."

Armin looked at him and stood back up. He crossed his arms over his chest to mimic his angry friend and took a step towards him. "Eren, I saw you making eyes at your big sister's ex girlfriend not even three months ago. You're definitely-"

Eren crashed his lips against Armin's. The kiss didn't last long. It was messy from the way Eren had simply crushed his own lips to the side of Armin's mouth but it was still a kiss. Eren pulled away. Both him and Armin had gone completely red. So red that the tips of their ears burned. Eren walked away. He'd kissed the boy to prove a nonexistent point. He did it because he was slightly angry for Armin teasing him. But he'd be a liar if he said he didn't like it at least a little.

Armin couldn't completely catch his breath. He had a smile on his face so large that his cheeks were beginning to hurt from it. He put a hand over his face to hide it and looked back at his friend who was pretending to browse birthday cars. He giggled uncontrollably. Mikasa owed him ten dollars.

"Thank whoever's up there."

Erwin smiled as they reached the alcohol aisle.

"Please do not turn into some beer guzzling cousin fucking hick."

Levi said. Erwin patted him on the back.

"Oh come on, drinking can be fun. Especially when it's a party."

Erwin put three cases of beer in the shopping cart along with six or seven bottles of whiskey. Levi looked at him in surprise.

"A party?"

"Yeah. We can't exactly have fun in a place like this by just sitting around and doing nothing. Why not party a little?"

He smiled.

"Erwin, a bunch of drunk teenagers is just asking for trouble. They'll yell and be loud and they'll attract whatever those bastards out there are."

Erwin shook his head.

"You just gotta loosen up. I bet Hanji agrees."

The blonde man winked. Levi crossed his arms and frowned.

"Hanji likes me the way I am."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

Erwin dumped plastic shot glasses into the cart.

"Pick up some water while you're at it. I'm not dealing with a bunch of hungover assholes tomorrow morning."


	7. Chapter 7

"What should I write?" Krista asked, tapping her pen against her chin. The two were stood outside the auto shop with a notebook held out in front of them.

"Well let's tell them where we are."

Sasha snatched the pen and paper out of her hand and scribbled down the street names for where the RV was parked. "Let's hope Erwin doesn't decide we should move."

"Okay. What else?" Krista watched Sasha hover the pen's tip over the paper.

"Have you told them your name?" The brunette asked. "No." Krista answered. She wanted to know the stranger's name but there was a part of her that felt unsafe giving out her name. But when she thought about it, their little note gave out less information than any online dating profile would.

"Okay. Do you want them to come at a certain time?"

"Uh...midnight should be okay."

"Where are you going to meet them? You can't exactly just let them waltz right into camp."

Krista rubbed the back of her neck. There were surrounding trees by where they were parked but they weren't thick enough to completely hide her and the stranger.

"Well in the trees I guess."

"Okay good. I can distract everyone while you talk to them."

"Well…"

Krista took a deep breath. Sasha looked at her.

"Well what?"

"I don't think they can talk very well. When they spoke it seemed like they were having a lot of trouble."

Sasha pressed the pen to her lips.

"Are they slow?" She asked. Krista shrugged. "I don't know. I mean it wouldn't bother me. But if they can't really speak...Can they even read?"

"I dunno. But it's worth a shot." Sasha scribbled Krista's name along with an _"xox"_ at the bottom of the paper before folding it in halves and writing _"Tall Stranger"_ across it. She handed it to Krista.

"Let's go set it wherever you think they'll be."

Krista took a deep breath again and wrapped her hand around Sasha's wrist. Both girls entered the shop. Krista led her back to the storage room where it looked like things had been moved around. Krista noticed some of the gas cans were missing.

"They've definitely been here."

She placed the note on the very same crate that had been shoved behind her only a couple days before.

"Okay. We should get back to the hospital."

"Yeah this place is giving me the creeps."

Annie and Mikasa were taking the stairs to the basement. The only sound was their footsteps; they echoed loudly and made Mikasa nervous that they'd attract something. She didn't let her face show it of course.

"Oh fuck."

Annie tripped over her own feet. She hit Mikasa's back but caught her by the back of her shirt. Mikasa turned around to face her. Annie's face was pink. She smirked and put out her hand for Annie to take. Annie took it and allowed the black-haired girl to lead her forward down the stairs as they reached the basement.

"You know, you don't sound like someone from Tennessee."

Mikasa stated.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't really have an accent."

"I think they're stupid so I don't talk with one." Annie shrugged. Mikasa lifted one of her black eyebrows.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. It is."

Annie said boredly. Mikasa tightened her hold on her hand and continued walking with her. They made it to the top of the stairs that led to the basement. Mikasa shined her flashlight downwards. It was dark. But not so dark that she couldn't see where she was going. Mikasa put her flashlight in the pocket of her backpack and began walking down the stairs with Annie following close to her side. Something scratched against the floor and went running across the room. Annie yelped and pressed herself against Mikasa. Mikasa was honestly shocked by Annie's sudden fear. She held back the urge to laugh.

"Relax. It was just a mouse."

Mikasa turned to face her again. Annie was now bright red instead of pink. She cocked her head at the shorter girl. Annie's arm pulled her closer. She wrapped her arm around Annie's waist and pulled their hips together. Annie smirked. Mikasa knew it was a silent game. Annie liked to play games. Mikasa didn't mind playing along. She lowered her head so that she was close to Annie, but not quite close enough that their lips touched. Annie frowned now. She'd wanted Mikasa to engage in the kiss. Mikasa rose her eyebrows at her. Silent questioning. Everything between them was as silent as a man who's tongue had been cut out. Yet they understood what the other wanted.

The blonde lifted her heels from the floor and pecked Mikasa on the lips. Mikasa looked down at her. That was all Annie was willing to give for now. But Mikasa was much more generous. She kissed Annie passionately. Annie made a small sound of protest in the back of her throat but let her eyelids sink shut. The blonde set her hand on her elbow and held her closer. Mikasa broke the kiss and looked down at her.

"Let's go find the switches."

Annie was burning bright red now. She turned her face away and nodded. Mikasa chuckled.

"Shut up!"

The blonde grumbled. The two girls carefully made their way down the stairs, Annie's hand balling onto the back of Mikasa's shirt once again. The black haired girl held her machete in front of her in case they bumped into something in the dark. The metal box on the wall was already open. Under it was a torn apart corpse. The tendons of the corpse's hands were pulled tight and were covered in dried blood. The sight made Mikasa gag. She used her machete to move the corpse to the side and took her place in front of the box.

"Okay. There's first floor, second floor, children's ward, emergency room. I don't see surgery ward."

Her finger ran over the multicolored labels taped to the metal switches. Annie scoffed.

"It's right here." She pointed to a yellow colored switch with the words **_"Sur. Ward"_** scribbled next to it in very faded blue ink. The blonde flipped it upward.

"You're a nice looking subject."

Hanji said to their patient. They chuckled and drew blood from the corpse's arm. Inside the blood were small, moving dots. Hanji held it up in front of their eyes and squinted behind their glasses.

"What on Earth."

They pulled a small container from their bag and set it on the surgery table. Hanji emptied the blood into the container. They looked closely at it. "Insects?"

The lights suddenly kicked on.

"Thanks girls."

They said to the empty room. Hanji began cutting off pieces of flesh to preserve in the plastic bags in their backpack. Out of the corner of their eye they saw the fluorescent lights in the hallway turn on. Hanji turned their head and dropped their tools at the sight of what awaited them outside the glass.

"Don't act like I'm stupid."

Mikasa said sternly. Annie rolled her eyes and looked to the other girl.

"You're not stupid. I just meant the switch is here."

Annie continued turning on the other switches to illuminate different parts of the hospital.

"I'm not stupid? Or you're just mean?"

She teased. Annie gave her a glare. Mikasa chuckled and placed her hand in the blonde girl's.

"Why are you holding my hand? What if I don't want you to hold my hand? Because I'm mean."

"Trust me, I can tell you want to hold my hand."

Annie snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Sure."

Mikasa laughed and pulled her forward.

"I know you like me."

The shorter girl's eyes looked at the floor.

"We just met."

"The world is dead Annie. I could be eaten alive right now and I couldn't tell you how angry I'd be that I died knowing I could've kissed a beautiful girl before I died. If I can't be affectionate for the first time in my life in a zombie apocalypse then I don't know where else I can be."

Mikasa turned her head away and flipped on the last switch that would light up the basement.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Hm?"

"That I'm a beautiful girl you want to kiss?"

Mikasa simply nodded. Annie pulled her into another kiss. Kissing a girl she'd just met was uncharacteristic. Hell, kissing anyone was uncharacteristic. It was foreign to her. It felt strange yet nice. She felt a balloon of butterflies growing in her chest and stomach. If that wasn't unlike her, she didn't know what was.

Annie could see the basement's lights had flickered on through the back of her eyelids but she wasn't ready to let go yet. And neither was Mikasa. The taller girl was holding her hips while she cupped her face. If Annie could see them from a third-person view she would've described it as when the hero kisses the damsel in distress at the end of the movie. But she wasn't sure who the damsel was here.

Mikasa's teeth scraped against the edge of her bottom lip and pulled gently. It was a sensation she'd never encountered before. She found herself smiling. Mikasa ignored it and continued to kiss her. Annie allowed her eyelids to drift open slightly, just to catch a glimpse of the girl showing her so much affection. When Annie saw what surrounded them she made a choked sound in the back of her throat. Mikasa opened her eyes and looked at the girl in worry before seeing what had scared Annie.

They were surrounded by creatures, all shuffling around. Each one was covered in thick black matter. The same black matter that Hanji had found on the creature at the store. It seemed they hadn't noticed the girls yet but there were too many of them to fight off if they did. Mikasa could see Annie beginning to panic. Annie's chest was heaving quicker as her breathing sped up. Her eyes were nearly bulging and she'd gone as white as a ghost.

"Annie." She whispered and grabbed her hand. "I'm gonna get us out of here, just be quiet."

Annie nodded slowly and bit down on her lip. Mikasa took a step forward. Her footsteps had never sounded louder. The creatures weren't making their usual sounds. In fact, they weren't making any sounds.

The two girls were halfway through the basement now. Annie was clutching to the other girl as tightly as possible. Her knuckles were white and her nails were digging deep into Mikasa's skin.

Mikasa kept them moving. Slowly but surely they were getting to the stairs that would lead them back to the first floor. A creature shuffled much too close to Annie and caused the girl to squeak in fear. The creature heard it and suddenly every dead eye in the room was on them.

"Run."

Mikasa commanded. The two took off, holding onto each other. Mikasa shoved Annie in front of her and placed her hand in the small of her back. The creatures were chasing them now and they were picking up speed. Annie made it to the top of the stairs. She suddenly felt the pressure on her back disappear.

"Mikasa!"

The girl had fallen on the stairs. She'd busted open her forehead on the edge of a stair and now one of the creatures had a hand wrapped around her ankle. Annie grabbed one of her hands and pulled as hard as she could. Mikasa's head was lolling and her eyelids were half shut while her blood was spilling out onto the floor.

Annie gave a hard tug, hard enough to hurt her shoulders, and finally she managed pulled Mikasa from the creature's grasp. The machete fell from her limp hand and fell down the stairwell, clattering the whole way. The sound was enough to distract the creatures while she ran away with Mikasa in her arms. She threw her over her shoulder and ran towards the stairs to the second floor. Annie made it to the first step before she noticed the huge hoard of creatures standing at the top. Their backs were facing her but there was no way she could get past them. She couldn't leave Hanji up there surrounded by creatures. But if she didn't get to the RV to bandage Mikasa's head and keep her awake, she could slip into a coma. Annie glanced between the lobby doors and the stairs. She could use the elevator, but that would risk leaving Mikasa alone in the RV where she could possibly pass out.

Annie made her decision. She tightened her hold on Mikasa and ran out the hospital's front doors.


	8. Chapter 8

Annie threw open the door to the RV and lay Mikasa on the yellow, puke colored carpet. She was bleeding quickly and Annie was slowly beginning to panic.

She frantically opened the RV's cabinets and searched for things she could use. Her eyes looked for a first aid kit or even bandages. There were none. "God damn it!" She shouted and ran to the front. She threw open the glove box. Mikasa groaned. "Hey! Stay awake! If you shut your eyes I will fucking kill you." She said to the girl on the floor. Annie found the small rectangular box she was looking for and pulled it out as fast as she could. "Okay I got it." The blonde kneeled on the carpet next to Mikasa and lifted her head. Her blood had soaked into the carpet and was pooling all around, making Annie's sneakers squish.

"Shit. Shit. Shit."

The blonde girl dabbed at Mikasa's cut forehead. She groaned again as the strong smelling liquid bubbled and foamed. "Yeah it's gonna sting, don't be a baby." She looked back in the first aid kit for something to use. There were bandages, a needle and stitching thread, alcohol wipes, advil, and batteries. She looked at the wound. It was deep enough that Mikasa's skull was visible. It was only a two by three inch gash but she needed stitches. "I have no fucking clue how to do this so please don't die." She picked up the needle and thread and threaded it. It took Afro tries because her hands were shaking horribly. Just to be safe she polished the needle with an alcohol wipe.

Mikasa's eyes were heavily lidded and she was breathing much too slow. Annie smacked the side of her face a little harder than she'd intended to. Mikasa's eyes snapped back open but it only worked for a very short time before she was falling back to sleep. Annie smacked her again. "This is hopefully going to wake you up."

Annie took a large, deep breath and pushed the needle through Mikasa's skin. Mikasa yelped and lazily lifted her hand to swat her away. "Stop! I have to sew your freakin' head shut so you don't die!" She continued to lace the thread, trying not to gag at the sight of tugging Mikasa's bloody flesh.

"Oh fuck."

Hanji gasped. The huge hoard of creatures surrounding the room they were in was much too large for them to fight. They quickly zipped up their backpack and threw it over their shoulders. The monsters saw the sudden movement and began to press themselves against the glass. Their black-matter riddled hands slammed against the door and windows. Hanji reached to the back of their pants to grab their gun only to remember they'd given it to Sasha.

"Fuck."

Hanji cursed and ran a hand through their greasy hair. They began to worry. The girls were down there and if they came running back up to rejoin Hanji then they would immediately be attacked. And it would be all Hanji's fault.

Hanji slammed their fist down on the table in frustration and searched around the room. There were windows. Small, twelve by twelve, rectangular windows. Hanji could break them and get to the first floor to warn the girls. Immediately, Hanji searched for something to break the glass.

Sasha and Krista returned to the hospital to find the RV door open. Sasha rose an eyebrow and turned to Krista. "Do you think somebody snuck into it?" Krista shrugged. "Maybe we should look." She whispered. The brunette pulled the gun from her waistband and held it in front of her shakily and improperly. Krista set her hand on her friend's shoulder and followed her closer to the open door.

"Oh girls!"

A booming voice shouted. Both girls jumped. Off in the distance, the boys had returned with a cart full of alcohol and miscellaneous supplies. Sasha held a finger to her lips. As the boys neared, each one had a look of confusion plastered on their face. Krista pointed to the RV door. Erwin was the first to notice and immediately pulled his gun from his belt. He held it out far in front of him and cupped it with his free hand like a professional. He took quiet steps. Every group member watched as he jumped and landed in the center of the doorway.

"Annie? What's going on?"

He lowered his gun at the sight of Annie holding Mikasa's hands and making her tiredly walk around the RV.

"Mikasa and I got attacked. She hit her head and I had to help her not slip into a coma."

Everyone was gathered around the door of the RV now. Armin and Eren both perked up at the mention of Mikasa and stepped to her side.

"Wait."

Levi said.

"Where's Hanji?"

Annie turned her head away and continued walking Mikasa around the room with the help of Eren and Armin.

"I said, where _the fuck_ is Hanji?!"

Levi shouted. Every member of the group looked towards the second story of the hospital as the sound of shattering glass echoed through the air.

Hanji stuck their head out of the window and waved at the group.

"Hanji!"

Levi yelled. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked up at his trapped lover.

"Hello! Are Mikasa and Annie down there?!"

They yelled back.

"They're down here! Are you okay?!"

Erwin's booming voice asked.

"Yes, I'm fine! Just...surrounded by whatever these things are!"

Hanji answered, surprisingly calm.

"We're coming to get you! Stay there!"

Levi shouted and grabbed Erwin's gun from his hands. The short man ran into the hospital before anyone could stop him.

"There's too many for him to fight." Annie stated. Mikasa was leaned on her shoulder, groaning and mumbling. Eren and Armin chased after him along with Connie, Reiner, and Erwin. They found Levi standing at the foot of the stairs, shooting at the creatures. They were rushing at him in a giant hoard. Levi's bullets entered the monsters but got lodged in the black matter that coated their bodies.

"Die you fucking pieces of shit!"

Levi screamed and fired his gun until the bullets ran out. Erwin grabbed Levi by the shoulders and tried to drag him away but was elbowed in the nose by the little man.

"I'm not leaving Hanji!"

Erwin grumbled and threw Levi over his shoulder. Levi pounded his fists and the butt of his gun against Erwin's lower back.

"Hanji! I'm coming for you! Let go go me you fucking gorilla!"

Levi continued to scream, throwing the creatures into a blind frenzy. Everyone cleared out of the hospital and stared up at Hanji who was trying to find a way out.

Hanji looked at the glass where the creatures were banging their fists and snarling their disgusting teeth. They ran a hand through their hair and swallowed hard. There was no ledge for them to step onto and the glass was already cracking into a spiderweb pattern.

They took a deep breath and sat next to the metal table. Their experiment still lay, not moving. They pulled out a pen and their notepad.

 _Dear Levi,_

"Hanji! Climb out of the window!"

 _I have and always will love you. It appears I'm going to die very soon. The creatures are pretty close to shattering the glass._

"God damn it Hanji! Please! Can you hear me?!"

 _Thank you. For giving me a very nice life. Even in these circumstances, you have given me something to love that wasn't my job. You're truly the only man that can make me laugh until I cry. I know it sounds strange, because I laugh at everything, but you made me laugh so hard that I looked at you with admiration._

Hanji flinched as a creature hit the glass particularly hard and sent a shattering sound through the room.

"Hanji you fucking idiot."

Levi's voice was close. Hanji looked over their shoulder at the window where Levi's head was poking in.

"How'd you get up here?"

They asked and stuffed their half written letter in their back pocket.

"I scaled the wall. You're fucking writing when you're about to be ripped apart?! Come on! Let's go!"

He held out a hand to them. He was struggling to stay in place. The toes of his shoes were wedged into a very thin crack in the wall and his arms were beginning to burn. Hanji shoved their backpack at him.

"Hanji leave the fucking backpack!"

He shouted.

"No! It has very important samples in it!"

"If these things don't kill you I fucking will! Let's go god damn it!"

Hanji threw the backpack over their shoulders and set their hand in Levi's.

"Where are we going to land?"

The glass behind them shattered so loudly that it hurt both of their ears.

"Please just trust me Hanji!"

Hanji threw theirself through the the small window. Their backpack got caught for a split second. It gave a creature the chance to grab their foot and pull. Hanji's shoe slid off as they went tumbling from the window to a freefall.

"Levi!"

Hanji shouted in fear. Levi wrapped his arms tight around them and prepared for impact. They hit hard, but not on pavement. The couple landed in a giant cushion of blankets, pillows, clothes, and towels. The group had quickly put it together while Levi scaled the wall. The giant cushion made the impact less painful but Levi still felt it deep in his spine. Their fall had only been twenty four feet but Levi had Hanji on top of him and a giant cushion wasn't going to stop _all_ the pain the force of gravity would cause.

The man was gasping. Hanji propped theirself up on their hands and looked down at him.

"Are you okay?"

They asked. Levi nodded. The fall had knocked the wind out of him. Hanji and Erwin assisted him up and leaned him against the side of Sasha and Connie's car.

"Levi I can't believe you did-"

Hanji was cut off by Levi grabbing them by the hair and pulling them into a deep kiss. Hanji pressed their hands to the sides of his neck and fell into his lap. Hanji smirked.

"No you have to shower because I've been touching a corpse the past hour."

Levi gave them a disgusted look.

"You're an idiot."

"An idiot you saved."

"Yeah because I love you."

He said rudely and shoved Hanji off of his lap. They giggled and pulled him into another kiss before entering the RV.

"We better get moving before the creatures make their way out here."

Levi gagged and made his way to the bathroom of the RV.

"Hanji's right. Let's get going."

Erwin commanded. Everyone began to pick up the giant cushion. Everyone except Annie and Mikasa. Annie was still holding Mikasa up with an arm wrapped around her waist and the girl's head on her shoulder. Mikasa was muttering random things and constantly closing her eyes. Then Annie would have to shake her really hard.

"Annie, you can ride in the RV with us. Keep Mikasa walking around."

Erwin called. Annie looked at Reiner and Bertholdt. They were too busy arguing over folding a blanket to disagree or give her permission.

Eren and Armin climbed onto the giant vehicle, not wanting to leave Mikasa.

"Eren."

Armin said quietly. His friend was being abnormally quiet.

"What?"

He asked.

"You okay?"

Eren simply nodded and took a seat on the RV's countertop. Armin couldn't help the slight smirk that spread across his face. He planted himself on the floor and pulled out his journal. He began to scribble things down.

Bertholdt boarded the RV and plopped down on the couch. He angrily crossed his arms and turned his head away from Reiner who sighed.

"I'm gonna ride with Sasha and Connie."

He said. Erwin simply nodded.

Krista followed Sasha to the car.

"What are we gonna do? They won't know where to meet us."

Sasha bit her lip and continued walking.

"Maybe they'll find us."

She shrugged. Krista got in the car and found herself sitting next to Reiner. She wasn't comfortable sitting in the backseat next to the giant man. She knew Reiner wouldn't hurt her but from what Sasha had said earlier, she just felt like he was staring her down.

"Hey Connie."

Krista whispered. Connie turned to look back at her.

"You should let me sit next to Sasha. I've gotta ask her something."

"Why can't you just ask her from back there?"

"Because."

Krista said, blinking at him. Connie furrowed his brows.

"Um, because why?"

"Connie, baby." Sasha said sweetly. "Switch seats."

He sighed and made his way around the car while Krista climbed into the front seat.

"I won't drive us far, don't worry."

Sasha whispered in her ear. Krista smiled and kicked her feet up on the dash.

"My back is killing me."

Levi complained as he sat back against Hanji. The entire group was surrounding a bonfire. Except for Annie who was still inside the RV with Mikasa who was fully awake now but in some pain. Sasha had moved them only a mile away and fortunately stopped just as dusk arrived.

Because Erwin had managed to get ahold of so much alcohol, the group decided tonight was the night to party. Each member was wrapped in a blanket, a plastic cup full of booze and coke in their hands. Levi and Erwin were just drinking beer but Hanji was taking shots of whiskey here and there. They had music playing from an old radio Connie and Sasha had in their trunk. It was playing a scratched up Fleetwood Mac album that seemed to give the entire camp a relaxing feel that everyday life lacked. Even though it was relaxing, some of the group members were a little scared with their backs turned to the trees.

"Stop being a baby."

Hanji rubbed his shoulders and kissed the side of his face.

"I say we get to know each other."

They said. Connie smirked.

"Are you suggesting a twelve-some Hanji?"

"Shut up Connie."

Levi rolled his eyes.

"No, just where everyone's from. You know, who everyone was before this all happened."

"I'll go first."

Connie volunteered. Everyone looked at him, sipping their drinks that sent fire down their throats.

"I grew up in the city. Didn't like it very much but I started working on cars when I was young and I guess I just loved it. So I took up a part time job as a bagboy and then went to school to be a mechanic."

"That's how we met!"

Sasha cheered. The alcohol in her system was making her quite bubbly.

"I was the girl that stocked the shelves in the grocery store. Connie asked me out by putting a note on a can of chicken noodle soup."

She held her boyfriend's hand. He was blushing heavily. He rubbed the back of his bald head with his hand and looked down at the fire.

"Aww!"

Krista, Armin, Bertholdt, and Hanji cooed. Connie was completely red now.

"Moving on, what about you Reiner?"

Reiner thought for a moment. He took a deep breath.

"I was a college student. Annie and I naturally went to the same school because dad wanted it and that's where we met Bert and Krista. They were our buddies so we just kinda brought 'em along."

Bertholdt shrugged and took a large swig of his drink. His cup was now empty. Eren noticed that he was sitting pretty close to Armin. Everyone turned to Krista who looked slightly nervous.

"What about you?"

Sasha asked. Krista was leaning against her, holding hands in a friendly manner.

"I was a forensics major. I was actually just going to college so I could get my dream job as a detective but, I guess all this kind of ruined it."

She shrugged. Sasha smiled giddily and planted a kiss to her forehead. The alcohol really was making her incredibly affectionate.

"You as a tiny cop."

She giggled. Krista laughed at the thought too. Everyone ignored the drunk girls and turned to Armin. The boy had barely taken a drink of his alcohol so Eren took the liberty of finishing it off. That was his third cup.

"I actually just graduated high school with my step sister, Petra. We already knew Eren and Mikasa because we grew up in the same town. We were actually all planning on going to the same college when this all happened."

"What happened to Petra?"

Connie asked. Armin swallowed hard.

"Um she uh...she got the same virus those things did. We did all we could to help her but it just didn't work."

He shrugged. Connie felt guilty for asking now.

"I'm sorry man."

"Eh, it's fine. Things happen."

Eren was visibly saddened by the mention of Petra. They were just lucky Mikasa wasn't out here to hear it. Eren set his head on Armin's shoulder.

"We can drink to it." Reiner said, lifting his cup. "To Petra."

He said loudly.

"To Petra!"

Everyone said in sync. They each took a drink besides Armin. Now all eyes were on Hanji and Levi. Hanji smiled and combed a hand through Levi's hair.

"I was a new employee in the pharmaceutical department. Levi was the man I was shadowing and then when the world went to hell, we decided to partner up."

They said. Levi frowned.

"We were already fucking before monsters took over the earth, Hanji."

He stated. The group members chuckled and giggled.

"You're correct. My mistake."

They planted a kiss on his lips tenderly and set a hand on his neck. He couldn't help but smile. Hanji giggled and stole his beer from his hand. Levi was too buzzed to care.

"What about you Erwin?"

Armin asked.

"I was a mall security guard."

He said, suddenly extremely interested in the beer bottle in his hands. Sasha giggled.

"What else?"

"I was a single dad who lived in a shitty neighborhood. I had a job as a security guard at a club during the night too."

He took a large gulp of his beer. Everyone was quiet now. There was no giggling or sipping of drinks. Erwin had been a dad. Had been.

"How'd you come across Hanji and Levi?"

Bertholdt asked, trying to distract everyone from the sad fact that Erwin's kid was most likely dead.

"Hanji and I were neighbors and we just kinda decided to team up."

He shrugged and tossed his empty beer bottle in the grass.

"I'm gonna get a refill. Need one Levi?"

"Yes. And get Hanji another couple shots."

Erwin gave him a wink before walking into the RV.

Annie was laying on the fold out couch with Mikasa leaning on her. She was stroking the girl's matted black hair and saying sweet things. Erwin smiled.

"Need a drink Ann?"

He asked. Annie was caught by surprise and found herself jumping. Erwin laughed so hard his shoulders bounced.

"Uh no. No thanks."

She shook her head. Erwin sighed happily and poured three shots of whiskey and grabbed two bottles of beer. His huge hands carried them easily. He knew the group was probably outside, talking about his kid. He didn't mind. People were curious about things like that.

Erwin returned to the group but only Hanji and Levi were sitting by the fire.

"Where'd everyone go?"

He asked.

"The brats decided they'd like to play flashlight tag."

Hanji smiled and took one of the shots.

"I think it would be fun."

"Considering I nearly broke my back, not really."

Levi rolled his eyes.

"Reiner's it!"

Connie shouted and ran away, giggling wildly. Reiner looked disappointed to be "it" but threw his arm over his eyes, spun around a few times, and then turned on the flashlight. It was probably a bad idea, but everyone was spread out through the woods. They were too drunk to care really. But, to make it slightly safe, everyone went in pairs. Except for Krista who climbed a tree before Reiner could partner up with her.

Armin and Eren were walking through the underbrush. Armin had to hold Eren's hand because he couldn't walk on his own without stumbling.

"Armin."

He said rather loudly. "Shh! You're gonna get us caught. Come on, duck down."

The boys crouched under a very large shrub. It made Armin a little nervous because the last time he was behind a plant his shirt got ruined.

"No, no, Armin." Eren set his hand on Armin's face. His finger was practically going up the blonde boy's nose. "Eren."

Armin pushed his hand away.

"Do you have a crush on Bertholdt? I know you do."

He said with slight anger in his voice. Armin rolled his eyes. It wasn't visible in the dark but he was rolling them pretty hard.

"Shh. We're gonna get found and it's gonna be your fault so shh."

"I'm cuter than him.

"Oh my god."

Armin audibly sighed. He grabbed both sides of Eren's face.

"I do not have a crush on Bertholdt."

"Then why do you sit next to him and talk to him all the time?"

Eren wagged his finger in his friend's face.

"I'm not explaining this to you when you're drunk."

The brunette boy pushed himself into Armin's lap and nuzzled his head into the crook of his neck.

"I'm cuter than him."

The other boy mentally admitted defeat and ran a hand through his friend's hair to calm him. Eren practically purred.

"You're so drunk."

Connie and Sasha decided to hide behind a large tree. The couple weren't actually hidden very well but that didn't matter because they were giggling so much they'd be found anyway. Sasha had her back against the tree with a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. Connie had his head laying on her shoulder and his arms around her waist.

"We're gonna get found."

He snickered.

"I know. Shh!"

Sasha ran a hand over the back of his head. The bald boy looked up at her. Sasha blinked at him, a smile on her face.

"I love you."

He combed her brown hair out of her gleaming eyes. They were shining, even in the little moonlight there was. Sasha blushed and rubbed her thumb over his temple.

"I love you too."

"No, like I _really_ love you. I wanna marry you."

Connie gave her a big, toothy grin.

"Aww."

Sasha wrapped her arms around his neck. Connie gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Do you wanna marry me?"

"Yes, I do."

She pulled him closer and kissed the tip of his nose. Connie intertwined his fingers with hers.

"That means I should probably give you a ring then huh?"

He asked.

"Hmm," She pressed her forehead to his. His skin was cool in the night air and he was giving her his shy smile that always made her heart flutter. "you could if you wanted to."

"It's good that I already have it then."

"You're lying."

Sasha nudged him with her nose. She was starting to sober up a little but she wasn't sober enough to properly accept a proposal. But who said Connie was sober enough to propose to her? The bald boy dug his hand into the front pocket of his jeans and clumsily pulled out a small black box. He opened it and held it in front of Sasha's nose.

"It was my grandma's."

Sasha's face went bright pink.

"Connie." She took the ring out of the box and looked at the decent-sized red diamond on the silver band. Connie shrugged.

"If you want it, it's yours."

She slid it onto her ring finger and admired the way it gleamed in the silver moonlight.

"How did I ever find a guy as sweet as you?"

"You got a job in a crappy grocery store."

"Shut up."

She pulled him into a tender kiss. "I love you." He hugged her tight against his body and swayed back and forth. "I love you more."

"Yeah you wish."

"I can't see shit."

Reiner said.

"Reiner I don't wanna play. Somebody's gonna get hurt."

Bertholdt clung to the taller boy's sleeve. He snorted and continued walking.

"It's fine. It's not like we can't just run back to camp."

"But everyone's spread out Reiner." He stepped in front of him. "I think we should just go back to the fire."

"What?" Reiner crossed his arms, sending the white flashlight beam to shine against a tree. "Are you scared?" His breath smelled like a mix of vodka and whiskey.

"Yes, actually I am. You know why? Because there's these weird fuckin' creatures with dark stuff all over them. That means they blend in because it is currently dark outside, Reiner."

Reiner rolled his eyes.

"You're such a pussy."

Bertholdt stuck his tongue into the inside of his cheek and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why do you treat me like this?"

"Like what? A guy?"

"Reiner that's sexist. You aren't treating me like I'm a guy or a girl, you're treating me like you don't even like me anymore. You and I were perfectly fine before I told you I like guys too."

The taller boy said angrily. Reiner chuckled.

"I'm not getting into this right now."

"Getting into what? That you're a homophobe?"

Bertholdt shoved his shoulder. Reiner threw the flashlight to the ground and took a step forward, looking up at his friend.

"Bertholdt you don't want to start a fight. Not with me."

"Oh but you love to fight. That's all we ever do!"

Tears were welling in his eyes. Reiner gave him a look of boredom.

"Stop acting like you don't care about me! Stop acting like we never had anything! You used to flirt with me and treat me so great until I came out with how I felt about you!"

"Stop yelling before somebody hears you!"

Reiner snapped.

"You don't want them to know? Huh? Is that why you're treating me like shit Reiner? If it means you'll stop being an asshole maybe I should tell them!"

Bertholdt was crying now, his chest heaving up and down quickly. Reiner's face was red with anger.

"Bert."

"Hey! Everybody! Reiner's g-"

Reiner landed a punch on Bertholdt's jaw, sending the boy to the ground. Bertholdt yelped. Reiner picked up the flashlight off the ground and straddled Bertholdt's waist so he couldn't move.

"Reiner what're you-"

Reiner slammed the flashlight down on Bertholdt's face as hard as he could. Then again. Bertholdt screamed and flailed his hands at the boy on top of him. Reiner hit him again. And again. Again. Again. Again. The sound of the flashlight slamming into his cheekbones and nose was sickening and the force was sending a painful vibration up Reiner's wrist. But he didn't stop. Not until Bertholdt stopped moving. Even then he hit him another two times. He didn't know why. He just did.

Reiner looked at his hands. They were covered in blood and his fingers were shaking. The flashlight was laying on Bertholdt's caved in face. It's bulb was gone and the glass was smashed out, some of it in Bertholdt's forehead.

He stood, looked down at his dead friend, and threw up. It burned his throat and hurt his stomach coming up but it made him feel less nervous about what he'd just done. He looked down at himself. His white shirt was soaked with blood and had maroon colored fingerprints from where Bert had grabbed, trying to stop him. Reiner wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and grabbed his dead friend by the wrists. It was a good thing he was thinner because it made the next step easy.

Krista sat on a tree branch. It was thick enough to let her sit with one leg dangling over the edge while her back lay against the tree itself. She felt good. There was no way they'd find her up here. She'd definitely win the game. She knew she'd definitely beat Connie and Sasha because she could hear them giggling even from high up.

Honestly, she'd forgotten all about the note they'd left the stranger. She was still a little tipsy but that wasn't stopping her from appreciating the many stars in the night sky. She'd thought about becoming an astronomer before high school but decided forensics was a more realistic idea. It was so strange, she thought. That after all her hard work put into finals and essays and reports was all for nothing. It was all just so she could end up here, on a tree branch playing flashlight tag with people she'd never met before in her life. She wondered what her mother was doing right now. She wondered if she was still breathing.

She never had been very close with her mother but she still missed her. You couldn't just live with someone for eighteen years and then not miss them. Krista found herself so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed the golden eye staring at her from a few branches up. When she did, she gasped and nearly fell of the branch. A large, scarred hand caught her by the wrist before she could take the long fall to the ground below.

"Careful."

The stranger's rugged voice warned. Krista instinctively grabbed onto their hand and held herself up.

"Th-Thanks."

She said shakily. The stranger looked down at their hands and quickly pulled away. Again, they were wearing their headdress and something over their mouth. It reminded Krista of a ninja. She giggled.

"What?"

The stranger asked, sounding offended. Krista shook her head.

"Nothing. So how'd you find us? We weren't at the same spot."

They slowly climbed from their branch to Krista's. The two faced each other.

"You're very...loud. Wasn't...hard."

They shrugged. Krista cocked her head and lifted her hand, holding onto the branch with her other.

"Can I move your mask?"

"N-No."

They shook their head and backed away.

"Please?" The girl sighed. The stranger visibly rose their eyebrow at her.

"Why?"

"Because you said I'm beautiful. I wanna know if you are too."

Krista heard them chuckle.

"I'm not. Leave...it alone."

The shorter of the two slid closer to them and blinked her bright blue eyes.

"So you can read."

The stranger glared.

"It's just...you talk kind of slow and I just didn't know if you'd be able to read what we wrote."

"I have a speech...problem...from things that were...really bad."

They said in an angry tone and stood. Krista found herself surprised by how well they balanced for a person with one eye.

"No, no wait. I'm sorry. I've just had a little too much to drink. I don't mean to be rude."

She looked up at them. It almost hurt her neck to have to look up so high. The person sighed and sat back down on the branch. She smiled and put out a hand to them.

"Krista."

They looked at her for a moment before putting their hand in hers.

"Ymir."

She couldn't help but stare at the things this person was wearing. They had to be unbelievably warm on this humid night. There was a slight breeze, yes, but it wasn't anything that would give them relief.

"Aren't you burning up?"

She asked. They shook their head.

"I always wear this."

She still couldn't tell if they were male or female behind that voice. It was rugged and gravelly. But it made her feel like this person knew what they were doing.

"Will you stop...staring...if I take off...my cover?"

They asked. Krista hadn't realized she was still staring at them.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Ymir shrugged and hooked their fingers in the edges of their mask, took a very deep breath and slipped the thin, black material down their face. They decided to take the hood off too, appreciating the cool air that hit their skin. Krista was in shock. Ymir was a very beautiful female. Her dirty brown hair was pinned back in a tight ponytail. Her face was covered in the same cross-shaped scars that Krista had seen on her hands. Around the edges of her eyepatch, there was a long, pointed, white scar down her cheek that started from just under her eyebrow. Another scar went horizontally under her eyepatch, each end barely poking around it's leather edges. Her lips were chapped and looked like she frequently bit them. Krista noticed that the scars interrupted the smooth streams of freckles that lay across her nose and cheeks.

"We just met and already you're lying to me."

Krista smiled.

"Huh?"

"You're breathtaking."

She giggled as she saw Ymir blush a rosy pink color. Krista leaned forward and took a closer look at the girl.

"Ymir...How'd you get all these scars?"

She asked, placing her thumb on a smaller cross just above Ymir's top lip. The girl turned away.

"Long story."

"Are they everywhere?"

Ymir pulled her mask and hood back on.

"Wouldn't you...like to know."

Krista rolled her eyes and smiled.

"You know, you're really scary."

She turned her head and looked at the blonde.

"What?"

"You're so quiet. I didn't even notice that you were up here until you were right in front of my face. Even then."

"Well, you are drunk."

Ymir said as she pulled something from the folds of her black clothing. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a lighter that she slid out of her sleeve.

"You're like a magician." Krista laughed. "But you probably shouldn't smoke. That might be why your voice is so scratchy."

"Quite the charmer aren't you?"

Ymir blew out some smoke and faced her.

"Cigarettes are a slow way...of suicide...my darling."

"You want to commit suicide?"

"Let's not talk...about that."

She brushed off the subject easily. She looked up at the moon, her cigarette between her scarred fingers.

"Hey Krista!"

A loud voice shouted. Both girls looked down to see Connie and Sasha.

"Those are my-"

She looked back up only to see Ymir was gone.

"Ymir?"

She called. There was no answer. Just a small, orange glow in a nearby tree. Krista guessed that meant the girl wasn't going to come meet the group like she'd hoped.

"We decided we're too tired to play anymore."

Sasha said from the ground. Krista hurriedly scurried down the tree and joined the couple.

"Were you talking to someone up there?"

Connie asked.

"No, I wasn't."

"Annie, can I please sleep now?"

Mikasa asked.

"No."

The other girl answered instantly.

"Why?"

She sighed and pressed her temple to Annie's shoulder as they lay uncomfortably on the small couch.

"Because you have a concussion and if you fall asleep you might slip into a coma."

She said boredly. Mikasa pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks."

The blonde looked at her.

"For what?"

"Saving me."

Annie shrugged. "You're welcome."

"Annie."

She turned her head. Mikasa captured her lips in a kiss. Annie kissed her back, her heart fluttering in her chest. Mikasa's hand slid down her arm to hold her's.

"Can we move to the tent?"

"Why do you wanna do that?"

"Because we have no privacy in here."

Annie looked at her with a slight blush across her nose. Mikasa smirked. She leaned closer and hovered her lips just above Annie's ear.

"I might have a concussion, but I still remember the way you kissed me."

Mikasa's leg twisted around the other girl's. She turned her face away. Mikasa set her fingers on Annie's thigh and circled her fingertips. Annie could feel it through her jeans and it was making her chest struggle to take in breath.

"Mikasa, you and I just met."

"And I could've died today without experiencing something I'd like to experience."

Annie thought about how they'd kissed. How Mikasa had nearly been dragged down those stairs by those horrid creatures. And she could've died without Annie kissing her only moments before. _She_ could die without the experience of Mikasa. Mikasa was right when she said they could die any day. It gave Annie the small push she needed to get up off of the couch and grab the the other girl by the wrist.

They snuck out of the RV. Levi and Hanji had gone to bed an hour ago and now the fire was dying down with only Erwin sitting by it in a camping chair.

"Goodnight girls."

He said. He was still drinking beer.

"Goodnight Erwin."

They both said back, letting go of each other as they walked to the tents. Luckily, the tents were still empty. Neither of them had any idea where the others were but that was just fine. Both of them were concerned for their boys but that didn't stop them from zipping the tent's flap shut behind them.

Annie was on top with Mikasa's arms wrapped around her neck. Her knees were sticking to the tent's material and rocks and lumps of dirt were digging into her but she didn't care. She kissed Mikasa deeply. She put both hands on her face and kissed her back.

"Annie...are you positive you want to do this?"

She asked. Annie only nodded. Mikasa wrapped both legs around her waist and pulled her down hard against her. She was trying to twist and pull Annie under her but the sudden rush of movement hurt her head and made her dizzy. She clenched her teeth and visibly cringed in pain.

"Hey." Annie looked at her. "Stop. You're gonna hurt your head. Just let me take care of it this time okay?"

Mikasa nodded, a dumbfounded look on her face. Annie went back to kissing her for a moment before moving to her neck. Mikasa's hands seemed to grab everywhere. A hand slid down the back of Annie's jeans and another snaked up her t-shirt. Mikasa's fingertips were cold but Annie was burning all over.

Mikasa unbuttoned Annie's pants and began to slide them off. Annie was shy about taking them off at first because neither of them had shaved or showered in a while. It took Mikasa some coaxing but she soon let the girl under her throw them to the other side of the tent. Mikasa took off her own pants and used her legs to pull Annie down again.

"I've never...done anything before."

Annie whispered. They were trying their best to be quiet.

"It's okay. I'll help you."

"What if I'm bad at it?"

Mikasa only smirked. She grabbed Annie's hand and placed it between her thighs. Annie blinked in surprise at the dampness her fingers felt.

"I think anything you do will be fine."

Mikasa said in her ear. The girl on top of her growled and grabbed her by the thighs. She pulled their hips together hard and hooked her fingers in the lining of Mikasa's neon pink panties. She ripped them at the front, surprising both of them.

"Annie."

"Sorry."

It wasn't a very sincere apology. The girl on top placed a hand on either side of Mikasa's head and looked in her eyes. It was a silent way of Annie asking for help. Mikasa set her hand on the back of her neck and used her her legs to pull her against her, back and forth. Annie got the hint and continued the pattern. She buried her face in the other girl's neck and took a shaky breath. "Annie." Mikasa said huskily. Annie sped up, Mikasa's voice giving her a push that coiled in her stomach and sent steam swirling between her hips.  
Mikasa's leg twisted around her lower back. She bit down on the other girl's t-shirt to hold back the sounds she desperately wanted to make. Her hold on Annie tightened and her nails dug into the skin on the back of her neck. Annie yelped rather loudly but didn't stop.  
She felt like a tightly wound wire ready to snap. Her thighs shook as she finally let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Annie collapsed on the girl beneath her, breathing hard. Mikasa mindlessly rubbed a hand up and down her back.  
"Was I bad at it?"  
She asked. The other girl giggled and kissed her cheek.  
"No. Not for a first timer. You'll get better."  
"So...slightly?"  
Annie grumbled.  
"No. I liked it Annie."  
"Me too."  
Mikasa's nails tickled the back of her neck. They were both so relaxed that they didn't want to move. The only sounds they heard was the crackling of the fire and their breathing that was beginning to become rhythmitic again. It was peaceful.  
"Where'd Annie and Mikasa go?"  
Armin's voice asked. Both girls looked at each other in panic and scrambled to retrieve their clothes. Mikasa stuffed her ripped underwear back into her bag and slid on her pants. Annie simply threw herself under the blankets and pretended to be asleep. The tent's door was suddenly unzipped. Neither girl looked up to check who it was.  
"Oh they're in here."  
It was Armin again.  
Both Annie and Mikasa pretended to be fast asleep. The tent was zipped back up as Armin joined the group members back around the fire.  
Everyone had returned. Everyone except Reiner and Bertholdt.  
"Should we go look for them? Or just wait?"  
Sasha asked, leaning against Connie.  
"Well, I'm going to put Eren to bed and then probably sleep too. I can wait a while longer though."  
Armin was holding Eren up by the back of his shirt.  
"Maybe we should just-"  
"Guys."  
Everyone looked to the trees where the voice had come from. Reiner was standing, shirtless.  
"I can't find Bertholdt." 


	9. Chapter 9

"Bert! Bertholdt!"

Sasha cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled. Her voice echoed through the trees but no one answered. She held hands with Connie as they walked behind Armin, Reiner, Krista, and Erwin.

"Guys, maybe we should wait until morning. If those things are out here, they might come out and attack us."

Krista said quietly, clutching a crowbar in her hands. Everyone was almost completely sober now and weren't as fearless as they had been half an hour before.

"I agree."

Reiner said. "Reiner?" Armin looked at him. "Where's your shirt?" Reiner shrugged.

"I got hot so I took it off. Bert had it stuffed in his pocket when he disappeared."

Armin gave him a look.

"Did he? When exactly did he disappear?"

"He got scared and said he was going back to camp. Like maybe twenty minutes before I went back."

"I didn't ask _why_ he disappeared, Reiner."

Armin crossed his arms and scowled. The larger boy cocked his head and took a step forward, towering over her him.

"What are you saying Armin?"

Armin narrowed his eyes at him. Sasha stepped between them to try and destroy the sudden tension.

"Why don't we just look in the morning? I'm sure he'll show up. It's dangerous to be out here. It was dangerous to even play out here. We're all exhausted. Let's just go to sleep."  
She said, looking at everyone surrounding her. Armin was the first to back away.  
"Fine." He turned and began to walk away. "But this doesn't look right."  
The group followed the boy back to the camp. It was silent now as everyone slunk to their tents and cars. Armin wasn't comfortable sleeping in the same tent as Reiner but he kept his mouth shut.  
Connie and Sasha decided to make a small bed on the grass instead of sleeping in their cramped car. It was a decent night and since there hadn't been any creature sightings, it wasn't a bad idea.  
Erwin took his usual place on top of the RV and Krista joined Annie and Mikasa in the other tent. The night became silent as even the fire had been tired out.


	10. Chapter 10

"You have quite a nice butt."  
Sasha giggled and pinched her boyfriend through his jeans. He yelped and lifted his head from under his car's hood. There was grease smudged over his forehead and the back of his arms.  
"I brought you some food."  
She smiled. Connie wiped his hands on the old t-shirt he was using as a rag. He took the plate from her hands and bit into the slice of pizza she'd brought him.  
"You're all sweaty and gross."  
She smiled. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed his lips to hers.  
"Ew."  
She giggled again and set her hand on the side of his face. Her long nails were painted bright pink. Connie always loved that color on her.  
"So."  
She started.  
"I took the test."  
Connie's gray eyebrows rose in questioning. She smirked and tickled her nails over his grease-covered skin.  
"It was positive."  
Connie dropped the plate in his hands.  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yes."  
She laughed. Connie pressed her tight against him.  
"Sasha! That's amazing! Oh my god!"  
He kissed her over and over again, earning giggles and strokes of his face.  
"What are we gonna name it? Oh my god what if it's a boy?! I can teach him about cars and racing. This is incredible."  
He said ecstatically.  
"Calm down baby. We still have to go get ultra sounds and vitamins and stuff before we know what exactly the sex is. It's gonna take a little while."  
She said. There were tears of joy in her eyes. Connie embraced her again.  
"I love you Sasha."  
He combed a hand through her hair.  
"And I'm going to love this baby with everything I have."


	11. Chapter 11

Sasha was shaken awake. Small hands were on her shoulders, rattling her from side to side.  
"Huh?"  
She grunted. Her eyes opened to see bright blue ones staring back. She fought the stinging sensation that her eyelids were inflicting. She furrowed her brows and squinted at the girl above her.  
"Sasha, wake up."  
Krista whispered. The brunette girl sat up. She looked over to see Connie was still asleep.  
"Is something wrong?"  
"No, just come on."  
Krista grabbed her hand and tugged her forward. Sasha left quietly, trying not to disturb her lover.  
The tiny blonde dragged her to their car. Sasha looked at her in confusion.  
"K, I really don't understand what exactly you're doing."  
"I need to use your car."  
She whispered. Sasha was fully awake now. She scratched her forehead and looked around the camp to see no one was awake at what was most likely early morning.  
"What?"  
"Okay, I need to find Ymir."  
"Again, what?"  
Krista sighed and held out her hand.  
"Just give me your keys please?"  
Sasha looked over at Connie who was still sleeping soundly.  
"They're in Connie's jacket. Please just tell me what's going on?"  
She took her hair out of its loose ponytail and redid it since it had lost it's strength as she slept. Krista peeked at the surrounding tents and vehicles to make sure no one was listening in or watching.  
"I need to find Ymir."  
"Who?"  
"The stranger. She came and saw me while we were drunk ."  
"She?"  
"Sasha." Krista sighed."I just...I know she's probably sleeping all alone somewhere. There's something I need to figure out about her Sasha. You'll see, if we find her."  
"We?"  
Sasha arched her eyebrow.  
"Yeah. There's no way I'm going to see her by myself."  
Krista smiled.  
"So we're just gonna find some _rando_ and bring her back here for everyone to meet?"  
"That's the plan."  
The girls stared at each other for a couple seconds before Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"Lemme get the keys."

****

"Where exactly are we going?"  
Sasha huffed as they rolled the car down the street. Krista had put it in drive and, to keep the job quiet, they'd decided to roll it a little ways before driving away.  
"The...auto shop."  
Krista said breathlessly. They were pushing pretty well considering how small they were. But it really was exhausting.  
The girls finally managed to get it as far away as they thought safe and drove away. Sasha was behind the wheel, sipping on a can of soda to help wake her up. Both of them were wrapped in hoodies because the morning air was chilling them to the bone. The road ahead was hard to see through the dusty windshield. It was giving Sasha a headache.

"What are you gonna say to her?"

She asked, trying to provide more sound than just the car's motor. Krista looked out the window where straggling creatures were emerging from the trees and the side of the road, lazily reaching towards the speeding car.

"I don't really know. Maybe just ask her to come back with us."

"I don't know if we should do this."

Sasha said hesitantly, trying not to upset her friend.

"I mean, Bert went missing last night and I think maybe we shouldn't do anything that'll cause more trouble."

"Bert going missing wasn't our fault, Sash. I just think we should find Ymir because she's out there alone. How would you feel if you were out there, surrounded by flesh eating... _creeps_ that would tear you apart?"

"I would feel scared."

"Exactly, and I'm sure that's how she feels too."

Sasha looked at the road. The car became silent again. It wasn't uncomfortable silence like the kind when you and a distant family member run out of things to ask each other. Or the kind when you accidentally call your lover by the wrong name. It was peaceful. Sasha couldn't help but feel like this girl next to her was her best-friend. She had Connie, yes, but this girl was truly the only girl friend she'd had in a long time. It was one beautiful gift this tragedy had given her.

"Why are you so interested in her?"

She asked, flicking her brown orbs in the direction of the smaller girl who's head was leaning against the window. Krista rose her head and looked down at her folded hands in her lap. Her fingernails were chewed and she had blisters from helping Erwin start a fire earlier.

"She's got all these scars. They're everywhere. These tiny little crosses and a giant one over her eye."

"So you wanna know where she got them?"

Sasha stated more than asked. But Krista wasn't going to say it anyways. She only nodded.

"Is that the only reason you woke me up at four in the morning to see a complete stranger when there's monsters everywhere?"

"No. She's really interesting and I'm afraid she won't come back to see me."

The brunette smiled, taking one hand off the wheel to set on her friend's knee. She looked over at her.

"You've got a crush?"

Again, more of a statement. Krista shrugged and mumbled something that neither of them really heard. The car's speed decreased smoothly and the headlights were dimmed as they arrived in the gravel driveway of the auto-shop. The girl behind the wheel turned off the car and looked over at her friend who had her head against the dash.

"You alright?"

"Yes. Just nervous...and scared. Maybe we should go back."

"No way. Not after the gas we wasted. Plus, Connie's gonna ask me why the car has more miles on it. We might as well go inside and see if she's here. If she isn't, we'll go back home. Sound good?"

Her hand rubbed up and down her back. Sasha's fingers could feel the ridges of the girl's spine through her thick hoodie and it made her worry about just how much her friend was eating. She immediately decided that she was going to split her next can of peas with her. Even though she usually shared with Connie. She figured he could get over it.

"Yeah, okay."

She nodded. Sasha rubbed her thumb back and forth over the nape of her friend's neck and flashed her a kind smile before taking the keys out of the ignition and climbing out of the car. The crowbar she kept on the floorboard was immediately picked up. It was insanely creepy out here in the open with nothing but darkness surrounding. Krista joined her, closing the door as quietly as possible. The last thing they needed was to be raided by creatures.

They made their way to the front door; Sasha slowly pushed it open although it took more force than she thought it would. She held her crowbar tight as Krista lit the way with the flashlight. They entered, the only sound being their footsteps and Sasha's whimpers of fear. Krista's arm was wrapped in a death lock around her friend's upper arm and she didn't plan on letting go. Krista looked around the front room of the shop. No sign of life.

"Let's go to the back room."

Krista whispered. Sasha led the way, much to her disliking. She held the crowbar out in front of her like a sword, clinging it against the walls. The two made it to the doorway of the storage room. The shelves were the same way they appeared to be a few days earlier. It made Krista's heart feel a little empty. She was really hoping to see that Ymir was here.

"What's that?"

Sasha whispered.

"What's what?"

Krista asked. Sasha slid the flashlight from her hand and shined it at a shelf. Behind it was what appeared to be a door. Neither of them had noticed it their first or second time being there.

They shuffled forward to investigate. It was painted so that it blended with the wall. But it was particularly easy to see now that they knew it was there. Sasha moved the shelf aside, spilling some of the paint and motor oil. It was a very loud sound in the quiet building that echoed and bounced off the concrete walls. All it did was make them even more fearful.

Krista reached a hand forward and jiggled the doorknob. From the way it moved so loosely it appeared the door was unlocked.

"What if there's a creature in there?"

Sasha asked.

"We have to check."

Krista shrugged. Sasha sighed and set her hand on the doorknob. She held the crowbar up above her head and mentally counted to three before pushing it open.

Their eyes were met with a dim, yellow glow that was being emitted from a lantern on the wooden floor. Next to the lantern was a black backpack. It was unzipped and appeared that its contents were only food and water. Magazines and comic books cluttered the surrounding floor. Some of them were open. Most of the magazines were Playboy. Next to a magazine was a tan, scarred foot connected to a long leg. Ymir was sleeping on a spread out blanket. Her arms and legs were spread as she slept on her back in a sports bra and blue basketball shorts. Krista turned off her flashlight and took a step towards her. She wasn't wearing her eyepatch. Her eyelid was cut in half, her eye underneath visible. Sasha looked at her friend with an expression of pity on her face.

Ymir's eye was bright purple. Her pupil had popped, red veins criss-crossing through it. It was almost sickening to look at. In the lantern's glow they could see Ymir was covered in an amazing amount of the crosses. Maybe even thousands. They varied in size but every single one was a cross.

The tall girl's hands were tucked behind her pillow. Even in sleep she had that same frown Krista had seen before.

"Wake her up."

Sasha said. Krista was hesitant now. She suddenly felt like she'd invaded Ymir's space. This girl wouldn't even take off her hood and now they were in what appeared to be her home while she slept. "Maybe we shouldn't."

"Hell yes we should." Sasha said. "I am not leaving without you talking to her."

Krista sighed. She got on her knees and slowly crawled towards the bed. Ymir's breathing hitched. She stopped crawling. Sasha held her breath.

She gave it a second, and then began crawling again. She made it to the edge of the makeshift bed and extended an arm.

Her fingertip barely grazed Ymir's cheek before she was suddenly pinned to the floor with a knife against her throat. Ymir had pounced with shocking speed and agility.

Ymir's knees weighed down her shoulders while her hand held the smaller girl's neck, the knife's blade pressing against her skin. Krista stared up in fear. Ymir was visibly surprised by their presence but she wasn't letting go.

"Back away." Sasha lifted the crowbar above her head shakily. "Or I'll hit you with this."

Ymir rose her head, not loosening her grip on the girl under her.

"I'll kill the both of you...in thirty seconds...flat."

She growled. Sasha swallowed looked back down at the blonde in her hold.

"What are you doing in my-"

She was cut off by the force of Sasha's crowbar slamming down on the back of her head. The tall girl fell to the floor, the knife clambering out of her hold. She wasn't knocked unconscious; but very dazed.

"Should...Should I hit her again?"

Sasha asked. Krista pulled herself into a sitting up position and shook her head.

"No. You probably shouldn't hit her with the crowbar again."

She collected the knife so Ymir couldn't grab it again. She was beginning to come around, her hands lazily lifting and trying to grab at the blonde.

"Ymir."

She set her hand on the girl's cheek. The flesh under her fingertips felt callused and rough. Ymir's head lolled side to side. She was grumbling and snarling her teeth.

"I'm sorry she hit you."

Sasha opened her mouth to protest but decided it was better just to shut up.

"Do you know your name?"

"It's...Ymir."

She hissed. Krista held her up by her shoulders.

"Okay good. Are you going to attack me again?"

"Not unless...you attack me."

She huffed.

"Alright. I wanted to talk to you."

Ymir grunted and rose her hand. Her index finger pointed towards the other side of the room.

"Paper."

She said. Sasha followed the direction of her hand and picked up a coffee-stained notebook along with a pencil that was lying next to it. She tossed it to Ymir, not trusting her enough to get close. Ymir began to write but looked up and gave Sasha a glare. Krista looked at her friend.

"What?"

"I think she wants you to leave."

Ymir nodded. She found her eyepatch next to her pillow and slipped it back over her eye. Sasha frowned. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm not gonna...hurt...h...her."

Ymir was struggling to get her words out. Her friend gave her another fearful glance before Krista nodded her head in assurance. Sasha sighed and exited the room. She was truly a little bit afraid to be in the shop without Krista at her side but she had her crowbar and the flashlight; she figured she'd be okay for now.

Krista looked at the girl across from her. Ymir scribbled down on the already written on paper. She turned it over and held it up where Krista could see it.

 _Why are you here? How did you find me?_

Her writing was messy and hard to read but Krista answered quickly.

"I wanted to talk to you."

She didn't answer the second question but Ymir scribbled down another anyway.

 _What do you want to talk about?_

"I wanted to ask you to be part of our group."

Ymir didn't write. Instead, she arched one of her eyebrows high on her scarred forehead as if to ask "Why?". Krista had tried so hard to prepare for this question but she didn't have an answer. Ymir's golden eye was staring her down. It made her feel as if a clock was ticking at the speed of light, counting down how long she had before Ymir slit her throat.

"I guess...I just find you interesting. I know you're out here all alone and I don't want that for you."

The corner of Ymir's mouth bent upwards crookedly in confusion. She opened her mouth to say something but when only choking sounds came out, she used her pencil to write it out.

 _Why do you care?_

Krista didn't have an answer for this one either.

"The same reason you cared enough to come see me."

She had blurted it out. She hadn't thought about saying it or even planned, instead it just spilled straight from her mouth. She was content with it because it made sense and seemed to make Ymir think. She just wasn't sure it was the answer that would bring Ymir back with her.

"So do you want to come back with us?"

Sasha looked over the shelves. She only knew the names of most of the things there because of Connie. _He's going to be so mad that I took the car._ She thought to herself. Her lover was a very gentle and kind man but he got upset when it came to her safety. Sasha could see why because she didn't really think things through sometimes. If she was honest she didn't care much for her own safety. She wanted everyone else to be cared for and protected.

Sasha picked up a can of oil and smiled. It was the kind that Connie used to work on their car. More memories of home slipped into her head. Memories of how she and Connie would lay on the couch for hours, watching stupid movies. They'd kiss and hold each other for as long as they possibly could before one of them had to get up to go to the bathroom or get something to eat. They'd make fun of whatever it was they were watching and sometimes they'd fall asleep. Most of the time Connie would rub her stomach and talk to the life that was growing inside.

When they weren't watching movies, being lazy, or working on the car, they were painting the nursery. The baby was due in October and it was too early to tell the sex so instead of pink or blue, they settled on light green. It was a nice color that Sasha had chosen because it reminded her of leaves. She was absolutely sure her baby was going to love the outdoors. Just like Connie was sure it'd love racing and cars. Their life had been beautiful. Two kids straight out of high school who'd quickly fallen in love. It was something straight out of a movie. A movie with a sad twist in which her baby didn't make it. It hurt, even now, to think about it. So she stopped.

Sasha shook herself out of her own world. She wiped away the tears brimming in her eyes and plastered her beautiful smile back on her face. The smile that no one questioned. Sometimes, not even Connie could see through it; and that's exactly how she liked it.

 _Shhck._

Sasha paused and stood straight up. She held her breath and tightened her hold on the crowbar in her hands.

 _Shhck. Shhck. Shhck._

Something was dragging it's feet somewhere in the shop. It sounded like they were wearing wet sneakers that were sloshing with every step. Sasha turned her head, aiming the flashlight. She nearly screamed at the sight, dropping the flashlight on the cement floor. Before it rolled off to the other side of the room, she caught a glimpse of the creature that was now charging her.

The creature's face was half ripped off. The same black buildup covered the side of it's neck and one of its arms. Sasha screamed again and backed away. The creature lunged and caught her by the shoulders. She went falling to the ground with it on top of her.

 _Grk! G-Grkk! Gra!_

It snapped it's jaws like a wild dog. Sasha gripped it's throat and began to push, trying to get it off of her. It pressed down harder. She could see the bugs crawling inside it's teeth and feel it's hot breath on her cheek. She sobbed and let out another scream.

"Help! Krista!"

 _Grk! Kkrii!_

The monster on top of her sounded as if it was trying to hack something out of it's throat. It snapped its jaws again. Sasha swung her crowbar. The blow landed against it's back. She kept swinging but couldn't move her arm enough to hit it over the head.

She thought about her last moment on this earth. She thought about how she could leave this tragedy of a life and be with her unborn child in whatever heaven existed. She stopped hitting and looked into the creature's fogged over, red eyes. As far as she could tell they were lifeless. Just as lifeless as she was about to be. She made her decision. Sasha rose her other arm and threw it across her face, dividing her and the monster. She was exposing her flesh to it's teeth. The creature opened it's mouth and set on her arm. She hit it with the crowbar before it could rip into her.

The crowbar's blow to the head was enough for it to roll off of her. She rose to her knees and leaned over it. It began to rise up again but she swung with as much strength as she could muster. The crowbar came in contact with its jaw. Teeth went flying along with swarms of bugs. Sasha didn't stop. She swung and swung and swung. Blood flew in large, thick globs. It splattered onto her hoodie and up her arms and across her cheeks. She didn't care. She wasn't about to die to this horrid monster.

She didn't stop until she felt a pair of warm hands on her shoulders.

"Sasha! Sasha stop!"

She shouted. Sasha gave one last hard hit before she stopped, tossed the crowbar, and sent it clanking across the cement. She rose to her feet and looked down at Krista who was standing next to a now dressed Ymir.

"We heard you screaming."

Ymir looked down at the damaged creature. It was slumped over with half a head left. She was impressed.

"About time."

Sasha snapped. She wiped the side of her face with her sleeve and picked up her crowbar and flashlight.

"I'm going home."

She began walking towards the front of the shop. Krista looked up at Ymir with obvious concern and shock on her face. Ymir sighed.

"I'll go get my...stuff."

Krista followed Sasha to the car. Her friend had her head set on the car's roof while she sobbed.

"Sasha? What's going on?"

She rubbed a hand up and down the girl's back. Sasha didn't answer. She sniffled and buried her face in her sleeve.

"Do...Do you think you can drive? Please?"

"If that's what you want, sure."

Sasha didn't say another word. She got into the backseat and lay face down, ignoring anything else Krista had to say.

The shorter girl got in the driver's seat and waited on Ymir to exit the shop. She shuffled out with her black clothing on. It was so dark outside that Krista nearly didn't see her. She was toting a duffel bag and the backpack that they'd seen inside. Krista couldn't clearly make it out but there was something in her hands.

Ymir opened and slammed the door very obnoxiously. She tossed her bags to the floorboard and set her feet on top of them while shooting a glare at the girl in the driver's seat. The blonde started the car.

"I didn't say you _had_ to come along."

Ymir replied with a grunt. Krista put the car into motion and made a swift turn back onto the road they'd used to get there in the first place. Everything was so dark, even though signs of an early sunrise was peeking over the horizon. Krista didn't know it could get this dark. A world without street lamps or city lights was a horrifyingly serene place. She wasn't sure she liked it.

Connie twisted and stretched his limbs as he felt his mind come back to consciousness. His eyelids were momentarily stuck together by the dried moisture his eyes had produced overnight. He scratched his hand down his bare chest, scratched at the spot above his bellybutton, and ran his tongue over his dry lips. His hand outstretched to find an empty space next to him. His eyelids pried themselves open. A burning sensation invaded his vision as the cool morning air met them. He rubbed them with his knuckles and sat up. The sun was beginning to rise, sending a blue and yellowish color across the sky above. There were long, thin clouds that looked like tire marks on a road. Connie admired them for a moment before looking around at the camp. No one besides him seemed to be awake. But he couldn't spot his lover. He blinked his lids tiredly and pushed his brain harder to think about where she could be. It hit him hard. As if it was something he'd been puzzled about for years, he realized the car was gone.

Connie climbed to his feet as fast as he possibly could. He ran to his shirt and jacket that lay in the grass and searched the pockets of his gray hoodie. The keys were gone. Only Sasha knew where the keys had been. He panicked even more now. Connie sprinted barefoot through the grass; the early morning dew wetting the cuffs of his blue jeans.

"Erwin!"

He climbed the metal ladder attached to the back of the RV and shook the still sleeping man by the shoulders. Erwin swatted at him with his large hand but Connie dodged it. He smacked his hand against Erwin's stubble-riddled face.

"Get up! Sasha's gone!"

He shouted. Erwin lazily opened his eyes and squinted at the bald boy.

"What?"

"I said Sasha's gone! The car's gone too!"

He jumped off the roof and landed flat footed on the ground, sending shockwaves of pain up his ankles. Erwin sluggishly followed after him, combing his dirty fingers through his thick blond hair.

"Well hold on." He started. "When did she leave?"

"Erwin," Connie gave him a glare. "if I knew when she left I would've asked her why she was leaving."

"You're right, sorry. Just...okay." He looked around the camp. "I got it."

The large man began walking back towards the RV. Connie watched him enter it and then jumped in surprise as the vehicle's horn blared.

Connie waited, wondering what exactly he was doing. He figured it out when everyone began crawling out of their tents. Levi and Hanji sleepily followed Erwin out of the vehicle. They were both mumbling complaints and questions while Levi threw in a few insults.

"Erwin…"

Hanji grumbled.

"Everyone listen up!" Erwin's loud voice boomed. Every camp member was rubbing their eyes and yawning but gave him the attention he was demanding.

"Last night, Bertholdt went missing! This morning, Sasha has gone missing!"

Every single group member was suddenly fully awake at the mention of Sasha's name.

"Krista wasn't in our tent."

Mikasa said. Erwin looked towards her.

"And it appears that Krista is also gone. We need to put together a search party immediately."

"How long have they been gone? Did anyone see them?"

Armin asked, pinning his hair back on his head.

"Wait, Bert's missing?"

Eren asked. Everyone began to chatter and ask questions that Erwin had no answers for.

"Okay." Hanji intercepted. "Everyone be quiet. Connie, where are those radios you got? Does Sasha have one?"

connie scratched his head and scowled.

"No. They're all unopened in the back of the car."

"Shit."

Hanji sighed.

"I say we form a search party." Erwin stated.

"I think we should wait." Mikasa said tiredly.

"I think we should get our guns and go straight into the city. I'd bet money that they're fucking around at the mall or some shit." Reiner claimed, crossing his huge arms over his chest.

"Everybody be quiet."

Armin said. Of course, no one listened and continued their chatter of what they should do.

"Be quiet."

Armin rose his voice a bit. Hanji was the only one who seemed to notice him and couldn't do anything but shake their head.

" _EVERYONE, PLEASE BE QUIET!"_

The blond boy's voice echoed through the trees and was loud enough to wake the dead. Literally. The entire group turned and looked at him.

"Listen." He hushed. Every camp member was silent.

 _Whooshhh._

The sound of a quick moving car was growing near.

"That has to be her!"

Connie said in excitement and anger. He began to run up the road to the sound. Just as everyone had suspected, it was the girls. The car halted slowly with Connie slapping his hand against the side of the door, signalling for Krista to stop. Connie threw open the door. He was met with a strange sight. A stranger sitting in the passenger seat, staring back at him with one glowing eye.

"Who's this? W-Where's Sasha?"

He stuck his head inside the car and saw that his lover was sleeping quietly, outstretched in the back seat. Connie threw open the backside door and tapped his fingers against the girl's ankle.

"Sasha!"

The girl sat up, meeting his eyes with dazed ones of her own.

"Wha-" She yawned. "Hey, babe."

She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her out of the car. He held her close and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Sasha, what the fuck?"

He asked.

The rest of the group watched as Krista and Ymir exited the car, Ymir clutching a stuffed bunny with one ripped off ear to her chest. She looked over the people surrounding her.

"Everyone." Krista said. "This is Ymir. She's the one who took the bike."

Ymir gave her a glance, becoming suspicious.

"She?" Reiner questioned. Krista shot him a glare.

"Why'd she take it?"

Eren asked.

"Because it's hers."

Krista stated, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why did you bring her here?"

Annie asked, her tone of voice making her out to seem rude. Ymir looked to the side and shuffled her feet backwards. Krista grabbed onto her black shirt and gently held her in place.

"Because she's all alone. We have people and she needs help."

She answered. Krista could tell that Ymir was burning underneath all her clothing; that she wanted to leave but Krista wasn't going to allow it.

"Erwin?"

Krista looked at the large man who seemed just as bewildered as the rest of the group. He scratched his chin and turned to look at the people around him.

"I think we need to set some rules."


End file.
